A Long Lost Mother
by Emiiily
Summary: Rory got pregnant with Logan's baby in her senior year at Yale. He left, she graduated then she left too, leaving Luke and Lorelai to raise the baby. Now it's three years later and she's coming back. THIS IS VERY OOC, DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T LIKE!
1. Chapter 1

**Okay so a new little idea here. It's not L/L centred really, although they are together. It's more about Rory. **

**So the idea is that Rory got pregnant with Logan's baby while she was still at Yale, then she graduated while she was still pregnant (I'd say she was about six months along at graduation). So Logan left for some kind of job, I'm not sure but he's not gonna be in the story. Then Rory left too leaving Luke and Lorelai to take care of her baby daughter. L/L got married on June 3****rd**** (YAY) no April and no complications and have been together since....I hope this is a good idea! It's only gonna have about 3 chapters, it's just a short one.**

"Grandma, grandpa," whispered the little blonde-haired, blue-eyed three year old girl as she sat at the foot of the bed. Neither of them stirred from their sleep. "Grandma!" she said a little louder, causing them both to jolt up into a sitting position.

"What's going on?" asked Luke frantically as Lorelai rubbed her eyes to wake herself up.

"I had an accident," she answered ashamedly.

"Again?" the little girl nodded in response. Luke sighed and climbed out of bed. "Come on, we'll go change your pyjamas while your lazy grandma wakes up," he said as he lifted the girl from the bed.

"I can hear you, you know," called Lorelai to Luke's retreating body. They both giggled then walked across the hall to Leah's bedroom. Luke removed her wet pyjamas and replaced them with fresh ones before sitting down on her bed and pulling her into his lap.

"What's going on huh?" he asked softly.

"I dunno," shrugged Leah.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Leah nodded. "Okay, how about you come and sleep with grandma and me tonight?"

"Yeah," she said excitedly. Luke smiled affectionately then carried her into his and Lorelai's room. Lorelai was laid back against her pillow with her eyes closed and her arm thrown up above her head. "Grandma guess what?" she exclaimed.

"Gah," groaned Lorelai. "Leah it's like three o clock in the morning, why are you so loud?" she complained.

"I'm sleeping in your bed tonight," she said, ignoring Lorelai's mumbling.

"Oh goody," she said sarcastically. Leah climbed in next to Lorelai then Luke followed, sandwiching the little girl between them.

"Your bed's better than mine," said Leah, her volume still high.

"Leah go to sleep now okay?" said Luke.

"I'm not tired," she argued.

"Yes you are," he retorted. "If you go to sleep now, I'll make you blueberry pancakes and strawberry milk for breakfast."

"Really?" she asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Yes really," he confirmed.

"Okay night!" She leaned up and kissed Luke's cheek then did the same with Lorelai's. The couple lay in silence for a few minutes until they are sure Leah is asleep then Luke draped his arm over her and grazed Lorelai's hip.

"She seems to be having accidents almost every night," observed Lorelai sleepily.

"I know, maybe we should take her to the doctor or something. Maybe they can find out what's causing it."

"I think it's just a phase, all kids go through something like this. It'll pass," she assured.

"Did it happen with Rory?"

"Err...yeah but it wasn't as bad as this, it went away though."

"Hmm okay."

"So she's coming back tomorrow," Lorelai whispered.

"What?"

"Rory, she's coming back."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she called me and said she's ready."

"Took her long enough," said Luke gruffly.

"Luke..."

"I know," he replied, softer this time.

"I admit what Rory did was wrong but I still love her."

"Of course you do, did you think I didn't?"

"I don't know, you just seem angry with her."

"I will always love Rory, the way you will always love her, unconditionally. I am angry with her, can you blame me?"

"I know, I was too at first but things are good now right?"

"Things are great," he corrected as he looked down at the sleeping girl in between them.

"I know we haven't really talked about Rory since she left," said Lorelai. "We've never thought about what would happen if she came back."

"I know, but we didn't know if she would."

"It was possible though and now it's happening. What do we tell Leah? All she knows is that her mommy moved away because of her job and left her with us, how do we explain that she's coming back?"

"I don't know," sighed Luke.

"We don't have long to figure it out," she reminded.

"We'll talk to her in the morning okay?"

"Yeah, I wonder how she'll take it."

"Well, we'll find out. Now go to sleep."

"Goodnight husband," she said sleepily.

"Goodnight wife," he replied. They both fell asleep and Lorelai dreamt of the day Rory left to follow her dreams, leaving her daughter behind in the process.

"_She's precious," said Lorelai as she gazed into the bassinette set up in the living room. Rory was sat at the opposite end of the couch staring into space, hardly paying any attention to her mother or four day old daughter. "Rory?" asked Lorelai, not taking her eyes off the sleeping baby._

"_Hmm?" she answered distractedly._

"_Is something wrong?" She turned to look at Rory and saw she was staring into space. She saw her inhale and exhale deeply before opening her mouth to speak._

"_I have to tell you something," she began._

"_What is it?" Lorelai tucked the blanket around her granddaughter, making sure she was comfortable before scooting across the couch to sit next to her daughter._

"_I got offered a job," she said quietly._

"_Honey that's great!" exclaimed Lorelai in a slightly hushed voice. "Where at? Is it the New York Times? Have they come to their senses and realised the paper can't run if you're not working for them?" she ranted._

"_Mom," said Rory to stop her._

"_The suspense is killing me," moaned Lorelai._

"_It's a bit further afield than the New York Times."_

"_Oh," said Lorelai, feeling the disappointment wash over her._

"_It's an amazing opportunity and I think I'm gonna take it."_

"_Where is it?"_

"_Well I'm not sure exactly."_

"_I'm confused."_

"_Barack Obama's campaign is starting and I've been asked to report on it." Lorelai looked at her blankly. She was completely speechless. "It involves travelling, a lot of travelling, but it's an amazing opportunity and I can't turn it down."_

"_What err....what about Leah?" she asked shakily._

"_I um..."_

"_Rory you had a baby four days ago and now you wanna go follow Barack Obama around the country?" she asked, raising her voice._

"_You don't understand how great this is mom; I would be working on a presidential campaign. I could have any job I want when it's over with."_

"_But you're a mom now; you have a responsibility to your daughter. You can't just up and leave," she reasoned._

"_I'm doing this, you can't stop me."_

"_You're being selfish; do you really want your child to grow up not knowing who you are?"_

"_She will know who I am, I'll call and write. I won't be gone that long anyway, a year tops."_

"_A year is a long time Rory, especially when your child's involved. They learn who you are in the first year, all the important stuff happens. The first smile, first laugh, being able to hold their own head up, being able to sit up unaided, first step, first word, you'll miss it all!" she said angrily. _

"_I have to do this mom, I have to. This is what I've been working for since I can remember."_

"_Well a child changes things. Maybe you should have thought about what you've been working for when you had unprotected sex all those months ago," she shouted._

"_You're one to talk, as I remember you got pregnant at sixteen!" Leah started to stir and her soft cries interrupted them. They stared at each other for a moment before Lorelai stood up to see to her, figuring that Rory wasn't going to. She brought the baby back over with her and reclaimed her previous seat next to Rory._

"_I gave up everything for you," said Lorelai calmly. "When you were born, all my hopes and dreams went out of the window. You were all that mattered. I didn't even finish high school for Christ's sake and I didn't get anywhere near college. You graduated from Chilton and Yale, you've had the education you deserve but now you're a mom and your daughter has to be your priority." She looked down at the baby in her arms, the spitting image of Rory when she was that age. "Please Rory, don't do this. Your daughter has already lost her father; she can't lose her mother too." _

_Rory was fighting to keep the tears at bay. She glanced down at her baby then quickly averted her gaze, the sight of her being too hard to endure. She sniffled then looked up at Lorelai._

"_I can't do this, I'm too young," she said shakily._

"_Too young?" asked Lorelai exasperatedly. "You are six years older than I was and I managed to do it. Don't sit there and tell me you're too young, it's crap."_

"_I'm not ready to be a parent, I can't handle it."_

"_Again, you should have thought about that before you slept with Logan."_

"_I thought it would be okay, I didn't think I'd get pregnant," sobbed Rory._

"_You didn't think you'd get pregnant? Did you not listen to a word I said to you all those years you were growing up? I told you what happened when you do something like that, I told you what the consequences were. What did you think they didn't apply to you?"_

"_Stop yelling at me!"_

"_No I won't because this isn't you. The Rory I raised is loving and kind and wouldn't do a thing to hurt another human being, where did she go? I want my Rory back."_

"_I can't handle this." Rory stood up from the couch and stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind her. Lorelai winced when it banged shut and let out a loud sob as she looked down at her innocent granddaughter._

"_I'm so, so sorry," she whispered before she broke down again. _

_That evening, Luke and Lorelai were curled up on the couch together. Rory hadn't been back since their argument earlier and Lorelai was starting to worry. She had told Luke what happened and he was less than pleased about it. Rory had responsibilities, why couldn't she see that? They heard the door open, the hinges creaking as it slowly opened wider. Lorelai jumped up from the couch and walked into the foyer, Luke hot on her heels._

"_Rory," whispered Lorelai, her voice hoarse with emotion._

"_I've come to collect my stuff," she said, without looking up at neither Luke nor Lorelai._

"_Where are you going?" asked Luke quietly._

"_I accepted the job, the bus leaves later tonight," she said._

"_No," said Lorelai, tears filling her eyes._

"_I have to do this," said Rory. She pushed past them and rushed into her bedroom. She picked up a large bag and began throwing clothes and books into it carelessly. She was really gonna do this. She walked around Leah's bassinette, which was now in her room so the TV didn't disturb her, and didn't even glance into it as she went to retrieve her laptop from her desk. Luke and Lorelai watched in silence as she packed up her belongings then zipped up the bag. She picked up Colonel Clucker then made her way back into the foyer. Luke and Lorelai followed, not saying a word. "So I guess this is it," said Rory._

"_Are you not gonna say goodbye to your daughter?" asked Luke, still disbelieving that the sweet Rory Gilmore he knew would do something like this._

"_It's....it's too hard," she replied, choking back her tears._

"_You don't have to do this, please don't do this," pleaded Luke._

"_I have to," she replied, looking at the floor. "Take good care of her okay?" She looked up and saw Luke nod; Lorelai however was not moving an inch. "Mom?" she asked sheepishly._

"_Please don't do this," begged Lorelai quietly. "I can't lose you," she whispered, tears spilling from her eyes. A few tears fell down Rory's cheeks too and she quickly pulled her mom into a tight hug. She pulled away and held Colonel Clucker out to her._

"_Give this to Leah for me?" she asked. Lorelai nodded. "Okay so I guess this is goodbye. I love you." And with that she left. Lorelai fell to the floor as the door closed and Luke went down with her. He gathered her in his arms and whispered soothing words to her as she hugged the stuffed hen close to her. "She's gone Luke," she cried. "She really left."_

She said she'd be gone a year, tops. Now it was three years later and she was just returning now.

**Please tell me what you think! I haven't written the next chapter yet but I have it planned in my head so let me know whether to continue or not.....so please review! That's all I can say really :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to everybody that's taken an interest in this story, especially the reviewers :D Some of you said that Rory was a little out of character, I do know this but I had this idea and the only way it would work was if Rory acted like this....so sorry! She was a little bratty when after she met Logan anyway. Sorry for the wait as well. On with the story....**

"Breakfast time!" shouted Leah as she jumped up and down on the bed.

"Go away," moaned Lorelai without opening her eyes.

"You said I could have pancakes, I want pancakes!" she demanded.

"Luuuke," Lorelai whined.

"What?" he answered sleepily.

"Pancakes," she mumbled. Luke sighed and opened his eyes.

"Go back to sleep," he said.

"No cause it's pancake time."

"It's not pancake time till I say it is."

"But grandpa I'm hungry," she complained.

"You're always hungry, just like grandma."

"Nuh uh, I'm not like grandma cause she eats bad food and I eat good food," she replied, collapsing on the bed next to Luke.

"That's right, you like fruit don't you?"

"Yep, it's yummy," she said with a smile.

"Weirdo," muttered Lorelai.

"Hey," replied Leah, her pout intact. She crawled over to Lorelai and lay down next to her. "Time to get up," she shouted in her ear causing Lorelai to roll over in surprise and fall off the bed. Luke tried to suppress the laughter that bubbled up inside him but he couldn't. "Oops," said Leah, trying to act innocent but the cheeky grin on her face told a different story.

"Leah," scolded Lorelai as she stood up and climbed back into bed. She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest but soon gave in and smiled. She couldn't resist that little face.

"Sorry grandma," she apologised.

"I forgive you." She pulled Leah into her arms and settled her on top of her.

"I'm squishing you," squealed Leah.

"You're too little to squish me, stay still." Lorelai looked over at Luke and he nodded his head before scooting closer to them.

"Leah we have something to tell you," began Luke calmly.

"What? Am I in trouble? I didn't do anything, I promise!"

"Be quiet and listen," said Lorelai. "Now do you remember when we told you about your mommy?" she asked carefully. Leah nodded enthusiastically. "Do you remember what we said?"

"She had a really good job and had to move away," she replied.

"That's right," replied Luke.

"Is she gonna come back?" she asked curiously.

"That's what we wanna talk to you about," said Lorelai. "She's coming back today."

"Today?" Luke and Lorelai nodded. "Am I gonna see her?"

"Do you want to?" Lorelai asked. Leah shrugged her shoulders.

"You can think about it okay?" asked Luke and Leah nodded in response.

"What's her name?"

"Well she's called Lorelai."

"That's your name too!"

"I know," replied Lorelai, smiling up at the girl. "But we call her Rory for short."

"Rory?"

"Yep." Leah looked at Lorelai, then Luke.

"Can we have breakfast now? I'm starving." They were a bit shocked by her quick change of subject.

"Okay, go use the bathroom and I'll meet you downstairs," said Luke as he began to get out of bed. They watched Leah leave the room and Lorelai sighed.

"How did that go?" asked Lorelai, unsure of her granddaughter's emotions.

"I'm not sure, are you coming down for breakfast?"

"Yeah I'll just change," she said as she continued to lie in bed.

"You know, changing usually requires you to walk over to the closet and choose something to wear," he said.

"Hmm," she replied.

"Breakfast in ten minutes, be there or make your own." He left a kiss on her pouting lips then went downstairs to prepare breakfast. When Lorelai made it downstairs, Leah was perched on a chair at the table munching her blueberry pancakes while Luke was busy making Lorelai's.

"Coffee," she said sleepily.

"In the pot waiting for you," replied Luke as he flipped the pancake in the pan. Lorelai took a mug from the cupboard then poured the dark liquid carefully until it filled the cup. She took a seat opposite Leah and the girl looked at her curiously.

"What?" she asked.

"What does coffee taste like?"

"Like you're in heaven," Lorelai replied as she took another sip.

"But if you're in heaven then that means you're not here anymore, so it can't be good."

"Believe me, coffee tastes amazing," assured Lorelai.

"Can I try some?" Lorelai didn't even have a chance to answer before Luke swooped in.

"No," he said firmly as he put Lorelai's chocolate chip pancake on the plate in front of her.

"Thank you," she said sweetly. Luke smiled before looking back at Leah.

"Why not?" she pouted.

"Because it's bad for you."

"But grandma drinks it."

"And she's a junkie remember?"

"It looks weird," she said as she leaned over to look into the mug.

"Shush or it'll hear you," hushed Lorelai as she covered the mug with her hands.

"Grandma don't be silly," replied Leah as Luke rolled his eyes and sat at the table with his toast. Once they had finished breakfast, Lorelai cleared the table, something she wasn't accustomed to.

"I have to get to the diner," said Luke as he shrugged into his jacket. "I'll be back around six okay?"

"And you'll bring dinner?" asked Lorelai.

"Yes I'll bring dinner," he replied. He walked into the living room where Leah was playing with her dolls on the floor. "I'm leaving now," he told her. She stood up and walked over to him.

"Will you bring food home with you?" she asked, the way Lorelai had.

"Like grandmother, like granddaughter," said Luke. "What do you want me to bring?" he asked.

"Blueberry muffins," she replied with a grin on her face.

"Oh I don't know if I can do that," he said sarcastically.

"Pleeeaaaase," she begged. Luke pretended to think about it for a moment.

"Okay I'll bring you a blueberry muffin," he said.

"Thank you."

"Now are you gonna say goodbye to your old grandpa?"

"Bye," she said as she leaned up to kiss his cheek and give him a hug.

"I'll see you tonight." Leah nodded then went back to her dolls. Lorelai followed him into the foyer and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I'll miss you today," she said quietly.

"You say that every day," he reminded her.

"I know but it's true," she shrugged.

"I'll see you at six," he said as he leaned down to kiss her.

"Can't wait," she replied once they pulled apart.

"I'll bring pie."

"Ooh will you marry me?"

"Already did."

"Love you burger boy," she said, smiling widely.

"Love you too coffee junkie." She watched as he left the crap shack and walked towards his truck then closed the door.

"Hey Leah, what do you say we stay home today, just you and me?"

"Really?"

"Yeah I'll call Michel and tell him we won't be in."

"Cool," replied Leah excitedly. Lorelai made the call then hung up with a scowl on her face.

"I swear Michel get's more annoying every time I talk to him."

"What did he say?"

"Oh it doesn't matter," she dismissed. "Whatcha doing?"

"Playing with my dolls," she replied.

"Hmm can I play too?"

"Okay, you can be Ken." She gave Lorelai the Ken doll.

"Why do I have to be Ken? Why can't I be Barbie?"

"Cause I'm Barbie."

"But you play with them all the time, let me be Barbie."

"No grandma you're too old to play with dolls so I should be Barbie."

"I am not too old," she argued.

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Are...you know what? I'm just gonna watch TV instead."

"Can I watch?"

"No you're too young to watch TV," she replied.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Grandma!" she shouted.

"What, you don't like it that you can't do something?" she asked innocently.

"Please can I watch TV with you?" she begged.

"Okay but I'm choosing the channel."

"Fine." Leah curled up next to Lorelai on the couch and Lorelai put her arm around her. About fifteen minutes into the show, Leah turned her head to look up at Lorelai. "What should I call her?" she asked quietly.

"What?" asked Lorelai, snapping out of her trance.

"What should I call her?"

"Who?"

"Rory," she replied.

"Oh," said Lorelai, caught completely off guard. "What do you wanna call her?"

"I don't know."

"Do you wanna call her mommy?"

"It sounds weird."

"What about Rory?"

"Is it naughty to call your mommy by her name?"

"Not really," replied Lorelai. "If that's what you wanna call her then it's okay."

"I don't know," said Leah in confusion.

"You don't have to decide right now okay? When she gets here, you can see what feels right then."

"Okay," agreed Leah, seemingly satisfied with that answer. "Does she like cookies?"

"Of course, she loves cookies." Or at least she used to, Lorelai thought.

"Can we bake some for her?"

"Don't be silly, you know I can't cook." Lorelai saw Leah's face fall and the disappointment in her eyes. "But we could go to Doose's and buy some, then we can get some icing and decorate them ourselves," she suggested.

"Really?"

"Yep and we can get rainbow sprinkles too."

"Can we go now?"

"Go upstairs and brush your teeth first."

"Okay." She got off the couch and ran towards the stairs.

"And make sure you brush them really well, I want them to sparkle," she warned. Leah nodded and eagerly ran up the stairs.

As the two walked through Stars Hollow towards Doose's, Leah was chatting quickly about what she was going to put on each cookie.

"And then I'll make one with stars on and then one with hearts," she listed.

"Are you gonna let me decorate some too?" asked Lorelai.

"Yeah, what are you gonna put on yours?"

"I don't know, I might draw a picture of you."

"You can't draw."

"I can when writing icing is involved."

"Huh?"

"Never mind." They went into Doose's and picked up the things they needed for the cookies, then Lorelai decided they needed to make a quick stop at the diner. "I'm just gonna get some coffee, come on." Leah took Lorelai's hand as they entered the diner and looked around at the busy atmosphere.

"There's a lot of people in here," said Leah.

"Yes there is, come on." She led her behind the counter and quickly poured herself some coffee. As she was putting the pot back in it's rightful place, Luke came out of the kitchen with some plates.

"What have I told you about serving yourself?" he growled.

"That I shouldn't do it," she replied as she put the lid on her to-go cup.

"Then why do you?"

"Because I like getting a rise out of you."

"Dirty," he whispered.

"You did not just say dirty."

"You will never hear that word leave my mouth again."

"Oh really?"

"Yes really now get Leah out from behind my counter, it's dangerous."

"Yes sir." She mock saluted him then took Leah's hand as they walked towards the door.

"What's in the bag?" he asked.

"Cookies," said Leah excitedly.

"And what are they for?"

"For our visitor later," answered Lorelai. "Leah wanted to bake some but I don't know how so we bought some instead and we're gonna decorate them."

"Oh well make sure you clean up your mess," he warned.

"We will," replied Lorelai, rolling her eyes. "Bye." Luke smiled as his girls left the diner and walked through town towards the crap shack.

"What are you putting on this one?" asked Lorelai as she put a cookie in front of Leah on the kitchen table.

"I'll make this one for Rory," she replied.

"Which colour icing do you want?"

"Blue," she answered. Lorelai gave her the blue tube of icing and watched as she hesitated. "How do I write Rory?" she asked.

"Well you know the alphabet don't you? Cause you're smart." Leah nodded. "Okay so you put a 'r'." She watched as Leah tried her best to write the letter R. She smiled at her attempt then carried on until there was a very shaky-written 'Rory' on the cookie.

"So that's how you spell Rory?"

"Yep, are you gonna put anything else on it?"

"Yeah some hearts." She began drawing some misshaped hearts around the word then put it in the middle of the table to dry with the rest of the ones they had made.

"You're good at this," said Lorelai as she looked at Leah's creations.

"I wanna be able to cook, just like grandpa."

"I'm sure he'll teach you when you're older."

"I can't wait. Can Rory cook?"

"No, not very well anyway. She's like me."

"Why can't you cook?"

"Cause I never learned how to."

"Do you wanna learn?"

"Nah, I don't need to," she replied. "I have grandpa to cook for me." Leah giggled then picked up another cookie to decorate.

At four, Leah was in her room while Lorelai sat watching TV downstairs. She was watching a re-run of Friends that she had seen many times before but still found it funny. She burst out into laughter when Ross drew all over Rachel's face on the way to Vegas but her laughter stopped when she heard a knock on the door. She checked the clock on the mantel, she was early. Lorelai hadn't prepared for this and she was completely unsure of what to say. She had been so wrapped up with how Leah would react to Rory's return that she hadn't thought about herself in all of this. She paused the TV and slowly walked over to the door. She took a deep breath as her hand rested on the door handle. She slowly twisted it and opened the door to reveal the daughter she hadn't seen in three whole years.

"Rory," she whispered.

**A little bit of a cliff-hanger there....lol. So what did you think? I know it nothing really happened but it was all the things leading up to her return that I wanted to include, especially Leah's reaction. This will only be a short story, I know some of you have said it should be longer but I'm focussing on my other story at the moment and this was just a little project! Sorry to disappoint. So please review :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you to the reviewers! There aren't as many of you as I'd have hoped but hey, what can you do? So here's chapter three...I'm not sure how many chapters are left with this but there are at least two, I think...hope you enjoy :D**

"Rory," Lorelai whispered as she stood staring at her long lost daughter.

"Hey mom," she replied.

"Is that all you've got? Hey mom?" she asked angrily. "After three years, that's all you've got to say?"

"Mom, can I come in?" she asked. This was not her home anymore; she couldn't just walk in and out. Lorelai looked at her then walked away from the door, back into the living room. Rory stood on the porch for a moment longer, preparing herself for the argument that was about to come, then she cautiously crossed the threshold and followed her mother into the living room. She took a quick glance around. Not much had changed. The uncomfortable couch was still there, the coffee table, the TV was the same one from before. The only thing she noticed that was different was the pictures around the room. There were new ones of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl, whom she assumed to be her daughter. The person she had come back to meet.

"Sit down," said Lorelai as she saw Rory stood aimlessly behind the couch. Rory nodded and took a seat next to her. They sat awkwardly for a few moments before Rory spoke up.

"So how've you been?" she asked. Lorelai turned her head to look at her.

"Don't," she said quietly.

"What..."

"Don't sit there making small talk, it's not right. Where have you been all your daughter's life huh? And don't just say on the campaign trail cause I think that's over now, seeing as Obama's the President," she spat.

"The campaign lasted a year," said Rory quietly.

"Right and that's when you said you'd be home, but you didn't come back did you?" Lorelai's anger was building inside of her but she had to keep her voice down so Leah didn't hear them.

"I..."

"You what?"

"Just give me a chance to explain," shouted Rory.

"Keep your voice down, Leah's upstairs and I don't want her to hear this," she scolded.

"She's upstairs, right now?" asked Rory nervously.

"Don't try to change the subject; we'll talk about her in a minute. Now tell me where you've been."

"At first I went to California," she said.

"California?"

"To see Logan."

"And what did he have to say for himself?"

"Mom, don't."

"He left his pregnant girlfriend and moved to the other side of the country; I'm not okay with that."

"He had a job offer, he couldn't ignore that."

"Oh you know all about that don't you? Getting a job offer and leaving people behind?" Rory looked down at her hands clasped in her lap. "So tell me, how long did you stay with Logan?"

"Eight months," she replied.

"And at any point in those eight months did you not think to come back and get your daughter? I mean you were together, both her parents, surely it came to mind."

"I couldn't, it was too hard."

"Well sometimes life's hard but you have to deal with it."

"Will you stop yelling at me?"

"Why should I?"

"Please, I'm asking you to just hear me out." Lorelai sighed.

"Okay but I still don't like what I'm hearing."

"When I went to California, Logan and I didn't really hit it off. We weren't the same as we used to be, we had too much hanging over our heads. We spent most of our time dancing around each other, making meaningless small talk and we avoided the subject of...her. I couldn't take it anymore so after eight long months, I left."

"Where did you go?" Rory took a deep breath.

"Philly." Lorelai's head shot up.

"You didn't," she stated, rather than questioned. "You went to see Jess didn't you?" Rory nodded. "What is this, couples reunited?"

"I didn't know where else to go."

"How about home? Did you ever think that maybe there were people waiting for you here?"

"I couldn't go back yet, I needed more time."

"So you've been staying with Jess for the past year?"

"Yeah."

"Are you two back together?"

"We've become friends again but something happened before I left, so I guess we're undefined," she shrugged.

"Does he know about Leah?"

"No."

"You didn't tell him?"

"I couldn't, I don't know why."

"So you've completely shut her out of your life, pretended she doesn't exist?" Rory shrugged, not knowing what to say. "Do you know what it's been like for us? We've had to put our lives on hold for that girl. Luke's working less hours at the diner, I'm taking days off from the inn, Leah comes first in everything for us. When we take her places people always tell us what a beautiful daughter we have and it breaks my heart that she doesn't know who you are. We have been waking up in the middle of the night for the last six days because she's wet the bed. We're not supposed to do all that stuff, you are, the mother, but we've taken it all on." Lorelai had tears threatening to fall as she finished speaking. She took a breath and looked at Rory, her cheeks were damp and her eyes were puffy.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed.

"You're gonna have to say a whole lot more than that to make this better. I took today off from work so I could help Leah understand what was going on. Luke and I told her that you were coming back but she didn't really react to it, she's too young to understand all this. I don't think you realise how much of a mess you've created here."

"I know I screwed up but I'm here to fix it."

"Have you ever thought that maybe it's unfixable? Leah's getting older; it would have been so much easier to make things better if you'd have come back earlier."

"How many times do I have to tell you? I couldn't."

"This is all so wrong, a child needs a mother, it's what they deserve. Leah was innocent in all of this and you hurt her. I've seen her when we're at the playground, she looks so sad when she hears another kid call out for their mommy. My heart breaks every time I see her upset over you and I can't take it anymore."

"I'm gonna sort this out," she promised.

"It's not gonna be easy," she warned. "If you think everything's gonna automatically go your way, you're wrong. You're gonna have to earn her trust, she's not just gonna immediately like you."

"I know," said Rory sadly.

"You hurt her real bad and she's not gonna forgive you for that straight away."

"I said I know, I'm gonna work at this. She and I, we're gonna be okay."

"If you're sure. You're gonna stick around though right? You're not just gonna leave again?"

"I'm not leaving this time, I'm here to stay."

"Okay, I'm glad to hear it." There was silence for a few minutes.

"Is she okay?" Lorelai looked up to meet Rory's stare.

"Yeah, she's fine."

"Is she healthy and everything?"

"Yeah, she even eats like Luke."

"Seriously?"

"Yep it's fruit this and vegetables that."

"So not my kid," joked Rory.

"I think things are still a bit sensitive to be joking about things like that," said Lorelai quietly.

"Right, I'm sorry."

"You're right though, she's been under Luke's influence for too long."

"I guess that's my fault," said Rory, rolling her eyes.

"I wasn't gonna say that," replied Lorelai.

"It's okay, I know how things are." Lorelai sighed and leaned against the back of the couch.

"She asked me what she should call you earlier."

"What did you say?"

"I told her she could call you whatever she wanted, she looked so confused. Then she asked if we could bake cookies for you."

"She did?" asked Rory, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Yeah, we went to Doose's to buy some then we decorated them. You know I can't cook."

"I know, some things never change." Lorelai smiled a little too but it soon disappeared. Rory stood up from the couch and walked over to the mantel. She admired the new pictures before picking up one of Luke holding a baby Leah.

"She was a beautiful baby," said Rory quietly.

"Of course she was, she is a Gilmore after all." Lorelai stood up to join her. "She was eight months here, it was my birthday."

"She's gorgeous." Rory put the photo back in it's place and picked up another. It was a recent one, Leah's third birthday party.

"That was a couple of months ago, at her birthday party."

"She has our eyes," she whispered. Lorelai just nodded. She observed as Rory stared at the photograph in awe.

"I'm uh...just gonna go upstairs and talk to her, I'll tell her that you're here," she said.

"Okay," replied Rory nervously.

"I'll be right back." Lorelai ascended the stairs while Rory continued to look through the pictures on display. She found one of her holding the baby. She was wearing a hospital gown and her hair was damp. She remembered when it was taken, just hours after the birth of her daughter. She felt a tinge of regret in her heart and found herself wishing that she had come back sooner.

Lorelai tapped on Leah's bedroom door and opened it slowly. She was sat on her bed with Colonel Clucker tucked under her arm, looking through a picture book.

"Hey grasshopper, whatcha doing?"

"Looking at a book," she replied, smiling up at her grandma.

"Can I sit down?" she asked. Leah nodded and moved over. Lorelai sat down and gestured for Leah to sit in her lap. "Okay you comfy?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Good."

"What's wrong?" asked Leah, noticing Lorelai was a little on edge.

"Well there's somebody here to see you." Leah looked up at her curiously for a few seconds before she realised who Lorelai was referring to.

"Is it Rory?" she asked.

"Yes it is," answered Lorelai. "Are you ready to go downstairs and meet her?" Leah looked like she was thinking about it so Lorelai waited patiently.

"I guess so," she shrugged. "I can show her our cookies," she said excitedly.

"Yeah you can, are you ready to go down then?" she asked eagerly.

"Wait," she protested.

"What's wrong?"

"Can we stay here a little longer?"

"Hmm how about I go downstairs and you come down when you're ready okay?"

"Yeah, don't show her the cookies till I'm there though," she warned.

"I won't, I promise." Lorelai kissed the top of her head then shifted her so she was sat on the bed. "Don't be too long," she said as she left the room and went back downstairs. Rory looked up when she saw her coming back down and looked behind her cautiously. "She's coming down in a little while," she informed as she reached the bottom.

"What's she doing up there?"

"Looking through a book," she replied. "Do you want a soda or something?"

"I could really use some coffee."

"Ooh me too. I made a pot just before you came."

"Good timing." Lorelai hurried into the kitchen and quickly poured two mugs of coffee before heading back into the living room. "Thanks," she said as Lorelai gave her the cup of steaming liquid. They took tentative sips of their coffee, both aware of the awkward silence surrounding them. "So err...does Leah sleep upstairs then?" asked Rory.

"Yeah we extended the house, Luke did most of the work really," she said.

"She could have had my room; I thought that's where she'd be actually."

"We wanted her to be closer to us during the night so extending seemed like a sensible decision. That and I didn't wanna change your room; I wanted it to stay how you left it. I don't know why, I think it was keeping my hope alive that you'd come back someday. It made the fact that you left seem less real."

"I am really sorry mom; I hope you and Luke know that."

"I know. I can't help but show you my soft side, you're my daughter and I'll always love you, Luke's gonna need more convincing though."

"Is he really mad?"

"He was when you left. He couldn't believe you'd do something like that, he knew you as little Rory who wouldn't do anything to upset another person. He saw a whole other side of you he didn't know existed."

"What about now?"

"He's still mad, but I think he's come to terms with everything. You should see him with Leah, he's so great and he loves her so much."

"I always knew Luke had a soft, loving side under that gruff exterior. He even showed it to me sometimes," she said.

"Like when he made you the coffee cake for your sixteenth birthday?"

"Yeah, things were so much easier then."

"I know but things change, people change." Rory nodded but felt she should change the subject before another argument broke out.

"So how are things between you guys?"

"Me and Luke?"

"Yeah, you've been married for a while now."

"I know, things are good."

"Good?"

"Well we've had a lot going on the past couple of years; we haven't had much time to ourselves."

"Have you talked about kids? I don't wanna sound rude or anything but you're forty one, your biological clock is ticking."

"I know, don't remind me," she groaned. "We talked about it but we never followed through. With having Leah and all the attention she needs we just kinda focussed on her." Rory felt a pang in her heart. She never thought about how her absence would affect Luke and Lorelai and how their relationship would suffer. But to find out that they haven't started a family because of her made her feel guilty.

"I'm sorry," she said again.

"What for?"

"My stupid behaviour has put a hold on your life. If I hadn't had left you'd probably have kids running around here all over the place."

"Yeah well some things aren't meant to be," she shrugged.

"You should have at least one kid with Luke, he's your soulmate," said Rory.

"I don't know if I can do it all again, the diapers, the crying, the middle of the night feeding. We've just finished all that with Leah, I don't know if I wanna start all over again."

"Mom this is Luke we're talking about, he loves you more than anything in the world and nothing would make him happier than if you gave him a child." Lorelai sighed. "Talk to him about it okay?" Lorelai was about to answer when she heard the patter of tiny footsteps on the landing. She looked up to see Leah staring down at them cautiously.

"Hey sweetie, you can come down it's okay," said Lorelai, getting up to stand at the bottom of the stairs. Leah quickened her pace and jumped into Lorelai's arms. "Ooft you're getting big now," she complained as she juggled Leah in her arms. She walked over to the couch and sat down, settling Leah in her lap. Rory looked down at the little girl who was clinging onto Lorelai tightly. Their blue eyes met and Rory was shocked at the intensity of them.

"Hi," said Rory, breaking the silence. Leah stared at her for a bit longer before she replied.

"Hey," she said quietly. She looked up at Lorelai and smiled sheepishly.

"Do you know who I am?" asked Rory. Leah turned her gaze back onto her and nodded.

"Leah, answer her," pushed Lorelai.

"You're Rory," she replied. That wasn't the answer she was looking for; she hoped the word 'mom' would be included in there somewhere. Lorelai noticed the tension between the two and was quick to relieve it.

"You wanna show Rory the cookies?" she asked Leah.

"Yeah," she answered excitedly. "Come on." She jumped up and grabbed Lorelai's hand, keeping her distance from her long lost mother. Rory frowned at this but what was she expecting? They reached the kitchen and Leah pointed to the cookies on the table. "I did these and grandma did these," she said, pointing to the two sets of cookies.

"Wow they're really good," said Rory enthusiastically.

"Thank you," replied Leah shyly.

"Can I try one?"

"Yeah, I made this one for you," said Leah. She picked up the cookie that had 'Rory' written on it and held it out to her proudly.

"Wow is that for me? That's amazing," gushed Rory. "Did you write this all by yourself?"

"Yep, grandma telled me how to spell it though cause I don't know how."

"I told you how to spell it," corrected Lorelai.

"That's what I said." Lorelai smiled and smoothed her hair back.

"Well this looks really tasty," said Rory as she held the cookie.

"Try it," said Leah.

"How could I resist?" Rory took a bite of the chocolate chip cookie covered with blue icing. She finished chewing and swallowed, licking her lips in the process. "Mm that's yummy," she said.

"Really?"

"Yup it's the best cookie I've ever tasted."

"Cool," she said happily. She grinned at Rory then picked up a cookie from the selection and took a bite.

"Did I say you could have a cookie?" asked Lorelai with her hands on her hips.

"Rory was having one," she said innocently.

"You'll spoil your dinner," she said as she lifted her up.

"I'll still be able to eat it, I promise."

"You'd better or grandpa won't let you have dessert," she warned.

"He's bringing me a blueberry muffin, I asked him to."

"In that case you'd better save yourself until dinner."

"Okay." She stuffed the last of her cookie in her mouth and swallowed it quickly. "Can I go play with Barbie?" she asked.

"Sure." Lorelai set her on the floor. "I'll call you when grandpa's home with dinner okay?" Leah nodded and rushed up the stairs, leaving the elder Gilmore girls in the kitchen.

"She's great," said Rory.

"Yeah she's something," replied Lorelai. "I can tell she's putting some barriers up around you though."

"Really? I thought that went pretty well."

"Yeah, I think you need to spend a little more time with her before you can expect anything."

"Sounds logical," she nodded.

"Give it time." Rory watched Lorelai walk through into the living room and sighed. Their first encounter was kind of awkward but it went okay and Leah was starting to warm to her. The main thing she had to worry about was Luke and she realised that she didn't have much time to prepare.

**So there was the reconciliation/first meeting. What did you all think? I'm not sure how many people are actually reading this story but I hope you're all enjoying it. If you have the time, please review. I want to know what you're all thinking! **

**Emily.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for the reviews :D I know I'm not getting as many as I am for my other story but this is still new...so give it time right? So I've finally decided to listen to your requests and I am going to make this story longer! It's going to be in the double digits I think...hope that makes you happy!**

"Luke's gonna be home soon," said Lorelai. She and Rory were sat on the couch watching TV, just like old times.

"How soon?" asked Rory.

"Like ten minutes soon," she replied. She saw Rory's sharp intake of breath and felt a bit of sympathy for her. She knew she shouldn't but this was Rory, they'd always had a special relationship. "I'm sure it won't be that bad," assured Lorelai.

"You keep telling yourself that." Lorelai looked at her again before standing up.

"I'm just gonna tell Leah to wash up before dinner." She walked upstairs and found Leah in the bathroom. "What are you doing?" she asked as she stood in the doorway. Leah was stood on her footstool, the sink full with water, holding a very wet Barbie and Ken in her hands.

"Barbie wanted to go swimming," she answered innocently.

"Oh really?"

"Yep and Ken did too." Lorelai pushed away from the door and made her way into the room.

"There's water everywhere," she complained, looking at the puddles on the tiled floor.

"I'll clean it up, I promise."

"Well you'd better do it soon, grandpa's gonna be home any minute."

"Uh oh."

"Yup." Lorelai took the dolls from her and put them in the water before lifting her from the footstool.

"No, they can't swim!" she exclaimed as she watched the dolls sink under the water.

"If they can't swim then why did they wanna go swimming?"

"Ask them," she answered. Lorelai rolled her eyes and put Leah on her feet. She took some towels from the closet and put them on the floor to soak up the water.

"Don't do this again without asking first okay?"

"Okay sorry," she said ashamedly.

"Good now let's get your hands washed."

Luke walked through the door of the crap shack and called his usual 'I'm home'. He was slightly disappointed when Leah didn't run up to greet him like she normally did but he knew today was different. He walked into the living room carrying the Luke's take out bag and saw Rory stood next to the couch, Lorelai and Leah were nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Luke," she said nervously.

"Rory," he replied with a nod of his head. She hadn't changed much; the only thing he noticed was that her hair was longer. He was about to say more but Lorelai came down the stairs with Leah following close behind.

"Hey you're home," said Lorelai as she leaned in to kiss him hello.

"Good day?" he asked.

"The usual," she shrugged.

"Grandpa did you get me a muffin?" asked Leah. Luke bent down to her level.

"Yes I did, blueberry like you asked for."

"Thank you," she bounded into his arms and he lifted her up.

"Can we eat already?" moaned Lorelai. "I'm starved."

"I should have known," said Luke knowingly. The three of them walked towards the kitchen as Rory watched after them. She knew she was intruding on their lives, she didn't feel like part of the family anymore. Lorelai stopped and looked back at her.

"You coming?" she asked. "Luke's brought plenty of food." Rory nodded and joined them in the kitchen. They sat around the wooden table as Luke pulled the food from the bag.

"Okay cheeseburger for you," he gave it to Lorelai. "Turkey burger for Leah."

"Yummy," she said.

"I err...brought you a cheeseburger," he said to Rory.

"Thanks Luke." Lorelai looked between them, noticing the tension and tried to think of something to kill it.

"Luke I need coffee," she said.

"Already taken care of." He gave her a large to-go cup full of Luke's coffee.

"You're an angel," she gushed, leaning across to kiss him.

"That's yucky," complained Leah.

"What is?" asked Luke.

"You two kissing."

"You don't mind when we kiss you," Lorelai reminded.

"But you make it look gross."

"Eat your food," ordered Luke. Leah shrugged and picked up a couple of fries that Luke had put on her plate. Rory had been watching them interact, she didn't belong here anymore. Her daughter was ignoring her and her step father was shooting her death glares across the table. She knew it was only a matter of time before he said something; he was probably waiting till Leah wasn't around.

"So Leah, do you not like cheeseburgers?" asked Rory, hoping to spark up a conversation with her daughter.

"They're bad for you," she answered without looking at her.

"Oh but they taste good," she reasoned. Leah shrugged her shoulders again then took a bite of her turkey burger.

"Grandpa we made cookies," she said, pointing to the plastic container that was now on the counter.

"I know, you told me when you came to the diner," he reminded her.

"They're chocolate chip," she said.

"Really?"

"Yeah we didn't make them though; we just made them look pretty."

"I'll have to take a look after dinner," he said.

"I made one for you. I wrote 'grandpa' on it so you have to eat it."

"Why do I have to?"

"Cause if someone else eats it then they'll turn into a grandpa," she explained. Luke glanced at Lorelai and they smirked at each other.

"We wouldn't want that would we?" he asked.

"No it would be really bad." Silence fell over the group as they finished dinner. Rory remained quiet throughout the meal and focussed only on her food. When they had finished, Luke washed the dishes while Lorelai and Rory went upstairs to bathe Leah.

In the bathroom, Rory was perched on the toilet lid as Lorelai got the water to the right temperature. Rory watched Leah as she looked through her collection of water toys, choosing the ones she wanted.

"So what's your room like Leah?" asked Rory, trying once again to start a conversation.

"It's okay I guess," she replied.

"Why don't you go show her?" suggested Lorelai.

"What?" Leah asked, obviously not liking the idea.

"Go show Rory your room while I draw your bath, I'll shout when it's ready."

"Okay," she agreed reluctantly. Rory smiled her appreciation at Lorelai then followed Leah out of the room. "It's in here," said Leah as she pushed the door open. Rory followed her in and looked around the medium-sized room. She was expecting the walls to be pink but they were a pale shade of blue.

"I thought it'd be pink," said Rory.

"It used to be but I wanted to change it," she replied. "Blue is my favourite colour."

"It is? Mine too."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Cool." Leah walked over and sat on her bed, picking up Colonel Clucker and hugging him to her. Rory noticed this and smiled to herself, remembering when she asked Lorelai to give the stuffed hen to Leah. "He used to be yours didn't he?" asked Leah shyly.

"Yeah."

"How old were you when you got him?"

"Erm...four I think."

"That's one year older than me," she said proudly.

"Yeah it is, well done," praised Rory. Wow this girl is smart for her age, she thought. "Is he still called Colonel Clucker?"

"Yeah it's still the same, I didn't wanna change it." Rory smiled in return, not really sure of what to say. They heard footsteps outside before Lorelai appeared in the doorway.

"Bath's ready," she said. Leah jumped up and ran past her towards the bathroom. "Everything okay?" she asked Rory.

"Yeah, I think it is." They smiled then made their way to the bathroom together.

It was eight pm when Luke told Leah it was time for bed. She proceeded to pout, the way she always did, but Luke refused and told her firmly.

"But I wanna stay up longer," she whined.

"No, tomorrow is Sunday and you know what that means don't you?" he asked.

"We're going out," she answered. Luke nodded. "Where?"

"That's a surprise."

"Aww tell me pleeeaaaase," she begged.

"No, the sooner you go to bed, the sooner you find out."

"Fine," she huffed.

"Go on up and brush your teeth, I'll be there in a little while," said Lorelai.

"Okay." She kissed Luke's cheek. "Night grandpa." She made her way towards the stairs and began to climb them. As she got to the fifth step, she stopped and turned around, her gaze falling upon Rory. "Night Rory," she said quietly.

"Goodnight Leah," she returned. Leah smiled sheepishly then continued to climb the stairs until she was out of sight. Rory turned to look at Luke, a smile still tracing her lips. He looked at her then took his attention back to the TV, his expression hard to read. Rory frowned and slumped back into the armchair she was sat in.

"Will you guys be okay for five minutes?" asked Lorelai as she stood up from the couch.

"We'll be fine," said Luke, smiling brightly at her.

"Okay I won't be long." The two watched her go upstairs then Rory gave Luke a nervous glance. He had hardly said a word to her since he got home, only when it was necessary. She was certain he was putting on a front for Leah's benefit, but as soon as she was asleep, the interrogation would begin.

When Lorelai got upstairs, Leah was still in the bathroom. She went in to find her staring at herself in the mirror.

"Whatcha doing?" asked Lorelai.

"Do you think I'm pretty?" asked Leah, completely ignoring Lorelai's question.

"Of course you are, what's brought this on?"

"Rory's really pretty."

"I know she is."

"I wanna look like Rory."

"Honey, you do look like Rory."

"How?"

"Well because Rory's your mom and you look similar for that reason."

"But we have different hair."

"Yes you do but your faces are exactly the same. You have the same eyes, the same nose and mouth," she listed.

"We do?"

"Yeah, you look just like Rory, you're beautiful," she said.

"Beautiful?" she asked.

"Like a princess."

"Like Cinderella?"

"Yeah if you like."

"Cool."

"Okay now did you brush your teeth?"

"Yes really goodly," she said.

"Sweetie, goodly isn't a word."

"Oh."

"Did you use the bathroom?" she asked. Leah shook her head. "You need to go before you go to bed," she warned.

"Okay but not with you in here."

"Alright I'm leaving, don't forget to flush." When Leah was finished, she went to her room to see Lorelai sat on her bed. "Finished?" she asked.

"Yeah. Can we read a story?"

"How about we just talk tonight?"

"About what?"

"How about Rory?"

"Oh," she said uncertainly. Leah climbed into bed and Lorelai tucked the covers around her.

"So how're you feeling about everything?" she asked.

"Okay I guess."

"Is that it?" Leah shrugged. "You seemed to be getting on well at bath time," she observed.

"We were talking about Colonel Clucker," she said. "Rory asked if I changed his name."

"What did you say?"

"That it's still the same and I didn't wanna change it." Leah looked up at her. "When is she leaving?"

"What?"

"When's Rory going?"

"Uh...she's not," replied Lorelai.

"Huh?"

"She's staying; she's gonna live with us now."

"Why?"

"Because she wants to get to know you." Lorelai noticed Leah didn't seem to warm to the idea. "Do you want her to leave?"

"I don't know, I thought she would go."

"Well she's not, she's gonna live here."

"Where is she gonna sleep?"

"In her room downstairs, next to the kitchen."

"Is that the room I'm not allowed in?"

"Yeah that's the one." Lorelai didn't want Leah going in that room; she didn't want anybody in that room besides Rory. She hadn't told anyone this, even Luke didn't know. "Do you think you could like Rory?"

"I think so, she seems nice."

"She is. Do you think you could call her mommy?" Leah shrugged. "You don't have to say it straight away but maybe soon you could."

"I don't know."

"Okay well get some sleep so you'll be wide awake for tomorrow."

"Night grandma." Lorelai kissed her forehead then tucked her in again.

"Love you baby," she said to a now sleepy Leah.

"Me too," she mumbled before falling into a deep slumber.

Back downstairs, Luke and Rory were sat in a very uncomfortable silence. The only sound was that from the TV. Luke took the opportunity to look at Rory; she looked deep in thought, and nervous. He sighed then opened his mouth to speak.

"Why?" he asked. Rory was brought out of her daydream and looked at Luke.

"What?"

"Why?" he repeated.

"Luke what..."

"Why did you leave?" he asked, making himself clearer.

"I...." She was stuck for words. "I just...."

"It was so unlike you Rory; I never thought you'd do something so awful, to your own flesh and blood as well. That Logan kid changed you. He took an innocent girl and he turned her into somebody she wasn't, somebody I didn't like." A few tears rolled down Rory's cheeks.

"Why?" he asked.

"I was too young," she said.

"Too....too young?" he asked incredulously.

"I've already heard it all from mom," she said.

"Well get ready to hear it from me too," he spat. "Your mother gave up everything she ever dreamed of for you. She was sixteen and she put you before everything else. You were twenty two, you were perfectly capable of taking care of a child, we told you we were gonna be here to help you but you threw it back in our faces. When you left, you betrayed your mother. Everything she ever did to make you happy, the great job she did in raising you by herself and you threw it right back at her. I'm ashamed of you Rory, Lorelai deserved so much more than that, she didn't deserve to have the burden of looking after somebody else's child hanging over her head." Luke took a deep breath as he finished his rant. He had definitely been with Lorelai too long, he had never said so much all at once in his life.

"I know what I did was wrong," she said back.

"Oh you did, well that makes it all better then. You know it was wrong, wow what an accomplishment," he spat sarcastically.

"I know I've missed out on a lot but I wanna be here for her now. I wanna see her grow up."

"So you wanna see. What are you gonna do, watch from the sidelines as we raise your child for you? She needs you; you need to be there for her."

"So doesn't wanna talk to me," she said sadly.

"Are you surprised? You've been absent the last three years and you think you can come back and everything will immediately be okay?"

"No."

"You need to let her warm up to you, give her space and let her do it in her own time. She said goodnight to you didn't she? What more can you expect after one day?"

"Luke stop yelling."

"No I won't because for three years, we have been taking care of your child. We've altered our daily routines, our lifestyles, we even extended the damned house to make room for her and to make her feel wanted. Do you know what that's been like for me, for us?"

"So Leah's just a burden to you?" asked Rory.

"Don't turn this around on me Rory; I've been here the past three years."

"But you didn't want to be, isn't that what you're saying?"

"When Leah was a baby and I was stood in the kitchen at two in the morning warming a bottle while she cried in my arms, I admit I wondered what the hell I was doing. I love Leah, more than my life, but I find myself thinking, that should have been my kid." There was a hint of sadness in Luke's voice now. "I always thought that when I'd be doing all that diaper changing, it'd be for my own child, my first born but it didn't work out that way."

"I'm sorry Luke," whispered Rory.

"I don't regret taking care of her the past three years, she's a great kid and I like to think of her as my own grandchild but you should have been here. Grandparents aren't supposed to get up every night to change the sheets because their grandchild had an accident; you are supposed to do that."

"I know," she said weakly.

"Lorelai and I have been married for more than four years; I thought we'd have at least one child together by now."

"It's my fault."

"You know what? I'm not gonna disagree because you're right, it is. We had talked about kids before Leah was born, we were gonna wait a bit longer before we started a family, you know, enjoy just being together. When you left that baby with us, the last thing on our minds was kids because we'd just been left with somebody else's responsibility."

"I know you had to put your life on hold for her," she said quietly.

"I'm almost forty four; I'm too old to have kids now."

"No you're not, you can still have one, I know mom would go for it," she tried to convince him. This was the Rory he knew, the caring young woman who tried her best to help people. He realised the conversation was getting a bit uncomfortable, especially after so long apart from each other.

"So is that the only reason you left? You were too young?" he asked, his sharp tone seeping back in.

"I had that job offer, I couldn't ignore it."

"Did you think about her at all?"

"Every day," she admitted.

"Why didn't you come back?"

"I couldn't," she choked.

"That's not an answer, why?"

"Because I....I..I just know okay? Yes I know it was wrong and now I'm here I don't know what came over me."

"Rory you used to be such a sweet kid, you wouldn't hurt a fly. Something must have happened to keep you away for so long." Rory looked at her hands clasped in her lap, unable to meet his eyes. "Rory," he pushed.

"I don't wanna talk about it, leave me alone," she shouted. She stood up and stormed to her room, slamming the door shut behind her. Lorelai came down the stairs, slightly shocked to see Rory running off to her bedroom.

"What happened?" she asked. "Did you talk to her?"

"Yeah, there's something she's not telling us," he said. He was a little worried about finding out what it was; it could have been something really awful.

"What about?"

"About why she stayed away."

"She told me it was too hard to come back; she went to stay with Logan for a while."

"That punk?" he asked, getting angry.

"Luke calm down."

"So she's been running around with that asshole while we've been here raising her kid for her?" Something dawned on Luke then. "You don't think he...." he trailed off.

"What? Luke what's going on?" she asked demandingly.

"When I asked her what happened to make her stay away for so long, she bit my head off. She told me to leave her alone and that she didn't wanna talk about it. That's when she ran to her room. You don't think he....hurt her do you?" he asked hesitantly.

"What?" asked Lorelai, not quite believing it could be true.

"He might have done something," he said quietly.

"No," whispered Lorelai. "No she'd come home and tell us if something serious happened."

"Maybe she was scared," he said.

"I don't wanna think like that, let's not assume things. We need to know the truth." Lorelai was upset just thinking about something terrible like that happening to Rory, she didn't want it to be true. If Logan did do something, why would she run away to Jess? Why not her? Millions of thoughts were running through her head, most of them she didn't want to believe. She closed her eyes and wished this could all be one big dream, one big terrible dream that she would wake up from any second now.

**So what happened to Rory.....and what about Jess? All will be revealed in due time :D I know Luke's reaction wasn't as harsh as it could have been but to be honest I'm a little tired of all the angst. So before you go, leave a comment, in other words REVIEW! I want to know what you're thinking. I'm not good with drama so I wanna know if I'm doing it okay.**

**Emily.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you to all who reviewed the last chapter....I'm glad I have you all intrigued :D So I've upped the rating cause of Rory's problems, I think it's kinda moving up to a teen story now anyway! Okay I hope this chapter answers some of your questions....**

In her room, Rory dropped face down onto her bed and buried her head in her pillow. Tears poured uncontrollably from her eyes and she found herself struggling to breathe. She sat up and took long, deep breaths until her airways cleared. She thought the panic attacks had stopped; she hadn't had one for over seven months. She heard a knock on her door and quickly wiped her eyes.

"Who is it?" she asked shakily.

"It's mom," came Lorelai's soft, concerned voice.

"Come in." Lorelai slowly pushed the door open and she felt the lump in her throat get bigger. She saw how upset Rory was, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

"You okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine," she replied brightly. Lorelai saw right through the fake smile Rory put on.

"So Luke told me he talked to you."

"He did?" She avoided looking directly at Lorelai.

"Yeah, he told me what happened, about you rushing to your room."

"Well you're married so it's good that he tells you things," she shrugged.

"Rory, what's going on?"

"Nothing," she replied.

"I know there's something; I know you better than anybody remember?" She looked at Rory and she stared back, her blue eyes glistening with unshed tears. She quickly averted her gaze and focussed on her feet.

"I don't wanna talk about it," she mumbled.

"Come on, we used to talk to each other about everything. We had that special relationship where we were best friends first, mother and daughter second. I want things to be like that again." Lorelai looked down sadly.

"Things have changed."

"Don't I know it? I know you've been away for a while, you're a grown up now, you don't need me anymore. But I always thought our bond was strong, I thought we'd be able to get through everything together. Was I wrong?" She looked up at Rory questioningly.

"Mom, our relationship is strong but I can't talk to you about this." Her eyes were begging for an escape, something that would get her out of this awkward situation.

"Why not?"

"It's....I...I just can't okay," she shouted.

"Rory..."

"Just go, I'm gonna get some sleep." She lay down and pulled her duvet over her. Lorelai felt tears spring to her eyes as Rory shut her out of her life.

"Okay," she whispered weakly. She stood up and closed the door behind her, going back to join Luke in the living room.

"What's wrong?" asked Luke as he saw the tears roll from Lorelai's eyes.

"She doesn't wanna talk," she answered, more tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Hey, it's okay," he soothed. He pulled her in for a hug and moved his hands up and down her back.

"She's always talked to me Luke, always. It breaks my heart that she doesn't need me anymore."

"She still needs you," he assured. "There's something going on with her and she needs time before she can confide in you. She'll come to you eventually; right now we need to give her some space." Lorelai sniffled against his chest before pulling away to look at him. It still amazed her how Luke always knew what to say to make her feel better, he was the perfect man.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"What for?" he asked as he ran his hands up and down her arms.

"For just being you," she answered. He smiled then took her hands in his.

"Let's go to bed okay?" She nodded and let him guide her upstairs. They quickly went about their nightly routines then climbed into the warmth under the covers. Lorelai settled in the crook of Luke's arm and rested her head on his shoulder, sighing softly as she felt herself relaxing.

"Luke?" she asked quietly.

"Hmm."

"Rory and I were talking earlier," she began.

"Yeah," he replied.

"She asked why we didn't erm...."

"Didn't what?"

"Why we didn't have any kids of our own," she revealed. She was nervous about having this conversation with Luke, she was scared he was gonna think they were too old.

"Oh yeah she asked me too," he replied.

"Why don't we?" she asked, propping herself up to look at him.

"I guess we've been focussing on Leah so much and it got pushed to the back of our minds."

"Yeah, do you think if Rory would have stayed we'd have kids?"

"I like to think so," he admitted.

"Do you still want them?" Luke took a deep breath.

"I don't know, I'm forty four, I'm not getting any younger."

"Hmm I know, do you think we're too old?"

"Not yet, but if we wait any longer we will be." Lorelai's eyes shot up to meet his.

"Does that mean...."

"That if we want a baby, we should get to work now," he finished for her.

"Really? I mean, do you want to?"

"Nothing would make me happier than if you gave me a child," he said softly.

"And nothing would make me happier than if I gave you one." He smiled as she leaned down and kissed him. "Wanna start now?" she asked as she nibbled on his neck.

"You read my mind." He flipped her over and took control of the situation, determined to be successful on the first go.

Later that night, around midnight, Leah crept out of her room and down the stairs. She had been sneaking downstairs after everyone had gone to bed for something to drink for the past week. She reached the ground floor and tip-toed into the kitchen, heading towards the fridge. She froze when she saw Rory sat at the table, thinking she was gonna be in trouble.

"Leah?" asked Rory, drying her eyes quickly.

"I need a drink," she said nervously. Rory noticed she was on edge.

"It's okay, I won't tell them that you were downstairs," she said as she stood up, trying to hide the emotion she felt. "What do you want to drink?" she asked. A small smile crept onto Leah's face.

"Milk please." She climbed onto a chair and sat with her legs dangling over the edge, swinging them back and forth. She watched Rory shuffle around the room and noticed her cheeks were damp and her eyes were bloodshot. She frowned as Rory put a glass of milk in front of her and sat in the chair next to her. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing, I'm fine," she replied, not meeting her daughter's eyes.

"You look like you've been crying," she observed.

"Leah I'm okay, now drink your milk." Leah picked her glass and took a few large gulps. She set it back on the table then stood up, next to Rory's chair.

"Is it because of me?" she asked sadly.

"What?"

"Are you sad cause I haven't talked to you much?" she asked, her head bowed slightly.

"No, don't worry it's not something you did. I don't blame you for not wanting to talk to me after what I did," she choked, a few tears slipping from her eyes. Leah felt her own eyes stinging with tears, she didn't know why, she hardly knew Rory. It was just something about seeing her cry that made her want to cry too. Without a word, Leah climbed into Rory's lap and gave her a loose hug. Rory was shocked by the gesture; she wasn't expecting Leah to be so open with her. She wrapped her arms around Leah's small body and closed her eyes tightly. This was the first time she had touched her daughter in three years and it felt right, it felt like it was meant to be.

"Are you okay now?" asked Leah, pulling away slightly to look at Rory but still keeping her arms around her.

"Yeah I will be," she replied.

"If I didn't make you sad then what did?" she asked curiously. Rory looked at her daughter's innocent face and it broke her heart. She couldn't tell Leah what was really wrong with her; she was too young to even understand.

"It doesn't matter, it's grown up stuff," she shrugged off.

"Does grandma know?"

"She will soon," she replied.

"You can tell her anything, she likes to listen," said Leah happily.

"Yeah she does," agreed Rory, remembering back to when it was just her and Lorelai, the two Gilmore girls against the world. "Now finish your milk," she ordered, in a motherly way.

"Okay." Leah climbed down from Rory's lap and back onto her own chair, kneeling on it this time.

"Do you always come down here at night?" Rory asked, remembering both Luke and Lorelai telling her that Leah was wetting the bed recently.

"Only for a week," she replied.

"Is that why you've been having accidents?" Leah started blushing. "It's okay; you can talk to me about it."

"I think so," she admitted quietly. "But I get thirsty."

"Well how about before you go back to bed, you go to the bathroom," she suggested.

"Okay," she shrugged. Rory smiled; maybe she had just solved the problem. "Rory?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Is it okay if I don't call you mommy yet?" Rory stared into her intense blue eyes.

"Sure, you don't have to call me it if you don't want to." She tried to hide her disappointment as she answered her.

"I will want to, but not yet," she replied.

"That's fine."

"Does that make you sad?"

"A little," she admitted honestly. "But it's totally up to you. You can call me mommy whenever you're ready."

"Okay, thank you." They smiled shyly at each other then Leah took the last few sips of her milk.

"Do you feel better now?" Rory asked as she rinsed the glass out at the sink.

"Yeah I'm not thirsty anymore."

"Good, are you ready to go back to bed?" Leah nodded. "Okay use the bathroom down here first." Rory waited outside for her then heard the toilet flush and the door opened. "Did you wash your hands?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?" she asked, not believing her.

"They smell of soap." She held her hand out to Rory and she took a quick sniff. To her surprise they did smell of soap.

"Okay good girl, I'll see you in the morning," she said.

"Can you come and tuck me in? Grandma always tucks my sheets in so they feel cosy, can you do it for me?" Leah looked so pleading stood in front of her that Rory couldn't say no.

"Okay but we have to be really quiet," she whispered. They crept up the stairs and into Leah's bedroom. Leah climbed under the quilt and Rory tucked the sides in like Leah had described to her. "Like this?" she asked.

"Yeah." Rory finished tucking her in then perched on the edge of the bed. "Are you coming out with us tomorrow?" Leah asked.

"Do you want me to?"

"Yeah, grandpa hasn't told me where we're going but it's always somewhere fun," she said excitedly.

"Okay I'll come, now are you gonna get some sleep?" Leah nodded and sat up to kiss Rory's cheek, the way she had with Luke's.

"Night Rory, thanks for the milk." She lay back down and closed her eyes.

"Night," she whispered. She took another look at Leah before getting up and leaving the room, closing the door slightly behind her. Things were definitely getting better between them; at least Leah was talking to her now.

The next morning after breakfast, Luke packed a picnic while Lorelai and Rory helped Leah get ready. Both Lorelai and Luke had both noticed a change in Leah over breakfast, she seemed more talkative towards Rory and their relationship seemed like it had grown stronger overnight. Rory had kept her promise and not told them about Leah's middle-of-the-night trip to the kitchen. They packed the bags in the car and Lorelai fastened Leah into her car seat.

"Where are we going?" she asked for the fifteenth time that morning.

"Wait and see," called Luke.

"I wanna know," she whined.

"Leah be quiet," scolded Lorelai. Rory was already in the back seat as Lorelai and Luke climbed in the front, Luke in the driver's seat. When they arrived at their destination, Leah's whole face lit up.

"The zoo!" she exclaimed excitedly as she began bouncing in her seat.

"Sit still," ordered Rory.

"But I'm excited," she protested, grinning widely.

"Leah," said Rory sternly. She gave Leah a look and she immediately stopped bouncing. Lorelai saw this and was a little confused as to why Leah had actually obeyed Rory, yesterday she was ignoring her. Luke found a suitable parking space then they piled out of the car and got the bag out of the back.

"Come on let's go," said Leah impatiently.

"The zoo is still gonna be there in a couple of minutes Leah," said Lorelai as Leah tugged on her hand. Leah sighed and released her hand, moving over to Rory.

"Can you take me to look at that picture?" she asked sweetly. Rory looked over to see a map of the zoo on a big plastic board.

"Is that okay?" she asked Lorelai.

"Don't ask me," she replied. "She's your daughter." Rory smiled happily then looked down at Leah.

"Let's go," she said. "But you have to hold my hand while we're in the parking lot," she warned. Leah happily slipped her hand into Rory's and Lorelai and Luke watched them make their way to the picture.

"Does Leah seem different today?" asked Lorelai as they began to walk together, Luke's hand holding hers.

"Yeah, she's talking to Rory more," he replied.

"I wonder what could have made that happen; they haven't been alone at all."

"Maybe Leah's just getting used to having her around," he shrugged.

"Yeah maybe." Lorelai knew her granddaughter, something must have happened to make her act differently. It wouldn't just happen overnight. Luke paid for the four of them to enter the zoo and Leah immediately dragged Rory over to the seal show, Luke and Lorelai close behind.

"Wow he just flipped over!" she said in amazement.

"Yeah, they can do tricks," said Rory.

"How?" She bent down to Leah's level.

"You see that man stood there?" She pointed to the young man stood on the platform.

"Yeah."

"He'll teach the seals how to do things like flips and dives," she explained.

"How does the seal know what to do?"

"Because he'll have certain words he uses to get him to do it. Watch." The man shouted 'dive' and the seal went head first into the water. "Did you get it?" she asked.

"So if you say dive, he'll do a dive?"

"Yeah."

"So if I shout it out he'll dive?"

"No, the man has to say it, cause the seal recognises his voice."

"Oh," she said in understanding.

"You get it now?" asked Rory.

"Yeah I think so, can we stay and watch?" Rory looked up at Luke and Lorelai, they both shrugged their shoulders. They had both seen the interaction between Rory and Leah and it brought smiles to their faces. Rory was trying really hard to get Leah to feel comfortable around her and it looked like her efforts were paying off. Lorelai hadn't forgotten about last night though. She was gonna find out the reason for her daughter's behaviour, that was for sure.

That night, Luke put Leah to bed while Lorelai tried to talk to Rory. She came out of her room and picked up the phone, noticing Lorelai was stood watching her.

"Hey, is it okay if I use the phone?" she asked, not sure she was allowed.

"Yeah, you live here so..."

"Okay thanks." She took the phone into her bedroom and dialled the familiar number.

"Truncheon Books," said the gruff voice.

"Hi Jess it's me," she exclaimed. Lorelai inched closer to the door to eavesdrop on her conversation.

"Oh hey, how're you?"

"I'm good, you?"

"I'm okay, it's pretty boring without you here," he admitted. "How are Luke and Lorelai?"

"They're fine, things are going good for them," she replied.

"Has Luke knocked her up yet?" he asked bluntly.

"Not yet, they're thinking about having kids though." She felt guilty for not telling him about Leah, he deserved to know but she couldn't bring herself to tell him over the phone, it was something she had to do in person.

"Good, if they waited any longer people would start to think Luke can't do it," joked Jess.

"Eww Jess that's gross, I don't wanna think about my stepfather that way thank you very much." Jess chuckled on the other line.

"So how long are you staying?" he asked. Rory also hadn't told him that she was gonna stay in Stars Hollow now, permanently.

"Err...I'm not sure," she lied.

"Cause I already miss you a lot, we never really talked about what happened between us before you left," he said nervously.

"Yeah I know, I'm sorry." She really was sorry.

"No it's okay really. I actually called for a reason," he said.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah I got the whole of next week off work so I was thinking that I'd come back to Stars Hollow," he said. Rory's heart stopped.

"What?" she asked in alarm. Lorelai's brows furrowed when she heard Rory's panicked voice.

"Well I miss you and we need to figure out what's going on between us. I can't wait for you to come back," he said.

"Oh, you don't have to come to Stars Hollow though I mean, it's still the same boring town," she bragged, hoping to put him off the idea.

"I'm not going for the town, I'm going for you."

"Err....." She couldn't think of anything to say. "When are you getting here?"

"I can be there tomorrow," he said.

"To...tomorrow?" she asked in a state of panic.

"Yeah is that okay? I can ask Luke if I can stay in the apartment above the diner, I'm sure he won't be using it."

"Err....tomorrow's fine," she stuttered.

"Great," he said enthusiastically. Lorelai wasn't sure she understood the conversation, seeing as she could only hear Rory's side. Was Jess coming to Stars Hollow tomorrow? "Oh before I go, does your mom know why you haven't been back to see them?" he asked.

"No I haven't told her about it," she replied quickly.

"Rory you should, you used to tell her everything," he said.

"I know, I just can't talk about it with her right now. I don't know how she's gonna react," she told him.

"Promise you'll tell her soon?"

"Yeah I promise." She sighed to herself.

"So I'll see you tomorrow, I should be there around two."

"Okay, can't wait," she said with fake enthusiasm. They hung up and Rory groaned loudly. She had to think of how she was gonna tell Jess about Leah. She knew it would come some day but she didn't want it to be so soon. Lorelai, having heard all the conversation, knew for sure that Rory was hiding something from her. Something big. She took a deep breath and pushed the door open, looking straight at Rory with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Is there something you wanna tell me?" she asked.

**So another cliffhanger....haha. I'm not always this evil, I promise. These chapters don't take long to write so I can update regularly. Don't worry I haven't abandoned 'It's Just Me and You Now', I write a chapter for this story then a section of a chapter for the other cause those chapters are longer and take up more time. I promise you will find out what happened to Rory in the next chapter :D Oh and how could I forget? Please review! Let's see if we can make it up to 50 :) that's only 12 reviews!  
**

**Emily.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Can I just say to a certain anonymous reviewer that I know this story is out of character...I said that from the beginning. It had to be for my idea to work. So what? The whole point of fiction is that you use your imagination and this is where my imagination took me, sorry if you don't like it. There's only one thing I can say to you...if you don't like it, don't read it but everyone else seems to be able to get past the fact that Rory is different. There was no need to write such a mean review.**

**So sorry about that but I really needed to get that off my chest. Anyway I know this is a bit shorter than usual but I don't have much time and I didn't want to leave you hanging much longer. Thanks to all the people who did leave lovely reviews! You're all great. Thanks for getting me to fifty.**

Rory remained silent as Lorelai walked further into the room and stood at the foot of the bed. Rory looked up at her mother's questioning gaze then quickly took her attention to her polka-dot duvet cover.

"So that was Jess on the phone?" asked Lorelai, already knowing the answer. Rory just nodded. "What have you told him that you won't tell me?" Rory looked up to see the hurt, confused look on Lorelai's face. Her eyes began to shine with tears as she took a shaky breath before speaking.

"Something happened," she started, almost in a whisper.

"I gathered that." She walked around the bed and sat down opposite Rory, cross legged.

"It happened in California."

"It was Logan wasn't it? Did he do something to you?"

"No mom, it wasn't Logan, he'd never do anything to hurt me, ever," she stressed.

"Well that's not exactly true," muttered Lorelai.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"He left you didn't he? You told him you were pregnant and he moved to the other side of the continent, that hurt you."

"He had his reasons."

"We're getting off topic here; we'll deal with Logan later. So what happened to you?"

"Well some nights Logan and I would go out to dinner with his colleagues," she began. "I got on well with most of them, they were nice people. So there was this one guy..." Rory paused as a few tears rolled down her cheeks.

"It's okay, you can tell me," said Lorelai softly, her own eyes becoming watery.

"His name was Oliver."

"What did he do to you?" she asked, her voice becoming angry.

"At first he just flirted with me and I flirted back cause I thought it was just a bit of fun. Then after about two months of that, he started following me and calling me all the time. I started getting a little freaked out." She took a deep breath.

"Did you tell Logan?" She shook her head.

"No, I didn't wanna worry him. I was planning to come back to Stars Hollow then anyway so I thought it wouldn't last much longer," she shrugged.

"You were gonna come back?" asked Lorelai in surprise.

"Yeah, I only went to California to see if Logan wanted to come with me."

"Did he not want to?"

"He had this big project going on at work that was gonna last a while so I said I'd wait for him so we could come back together but after two months, I couldn't wait anymore."

"So why didn't you come back?" Rory sighed.

"One day I was at the apartment, Logan was at work and I was alone. Someone knocked on the door so I answered it and Oliver was there. Before I could say anything, he pushed me inside and locked the door." Rory sobbed and Lorelai's heart was pounding so fast she thought it was gonna jump out of her chest.

"Did he uh....rape you?" she asked in a whisper, unable to get the word out. Rory hesitated and then nodded. "Oh my god." Lorelai lunged at Rory and wrapped her in a tight hug, tears falling from both the girl's eyes. "Why didn't you tell me? You could have come back here, you would have been safe," she said between sobs.

"No...he knew I was planning to come home, he knew where I lived. He said that if I told anyone or ran away, he'd know where to find me and I'd have to be punished."

"Rory," she whispered. "Did it just happen once?" She kinda didn't want to know the answer.

"After that day, he left me alone for a couple of weeks. I thought it was over then, that it was a one off. Anyway, the company had just won a huge deal and everybody went out for drinks to celebrate. When I went to the bathroom, he followed me."

"I can't believe this, I'm gonna kill him," said Lorelai through clenched teeth.

"No, you can't tell anyone this. Jess is the only one who knows besides you."

"He needs to be put in jail," she argued.

"He can't know where I am or that I told anybody." She had a pleading look in her eye and Lorelai nodded.

"Okay."

"So err....how many times did it happen?" she asked.

"Every week," she whispered.

"Rory, why did you stay?"

"I didn't have the guts to leave; I thought he'd follow me."

"So you left after eight months right?"

"Yeah, there was a business trip over the weekend, Logan and Oliver went. I didn't waste any time, I packed a bag and left. I knew I couldn't come back to Connecticut, Oliver would have found me."

"So you went to Philadelphia?"

"Yeah."

"A phone call would have been nice."

"I couldn't call you, I knew I'd have to explain it all and I couldn't."

"I would have helped you, I'm your mother, I care about you so much."

"I know."

"I was so hurt when you didn't come back after the campaign trail, I didn't get out of bed for a week."

"I'm sorry mom." Lorelai wiped her eyes.

"Let's not do this again; we've had enough arguments in this house in the past day or so, we don't need any more."

"I didn't tell Jess right away either," she said, changing the subject. Lorelai looked at her curiously. "I didn't wanna talk about it with anyone; it was too hard replaying it in my head."

"How did he find out?"

"He noticed something different about me, he asked me about it one day. He said I'd changed, that I wasn't happy like I used to be."

"So you told him?"

"Not willingly, he beat it out of me."

"What?" asked Lorelai in shock.

"No! No I didn't mean he hit me, sorry that came out wrong."

"God you nearly gave me a heart attack."

"He wouldn't shut up about it; he went on and on and on until I couldn't take it anymore. I told him everything."

"What did he say?"

"He wanted to kill Oliver, just like you did. He said we should go to the police but I managed to talk him out of it."

"The cops need to know. He might be doing it to someone else."

"I know but I don't want to be involved in the case. I just wanna move on with my life."

"I understand that." Lorelai covered Rory's hand with her own. Rory looked down again.

"Jess said he's coming to Stars Hollow tomorrow."

"I heard. Why didn't you tell him about Leah?"

"I don't know. When I first got to Philly, I thought Luke would have told him already."

"Luke hasn't had any contact with Jess since the wedding."

"Jess never told me that."

"I think I know why."

"What's going on?"

"Hon it's really not my place to tell you, it's something you need to talk about with Jess."

"What did he do?"

"Ask him tomorrow."

"It must have been something serious for them not to talk for four years." Lorelai shrugged her shoulders and avoided Rory's gaze.

"So back on topic, why did you not tell him?"

"When I found out he didn't know, I was relieved. We were pretty much the same as we were before, arguing about which book's better, flirting shamelessly. I was scared that if I told him, I'd ruin our relationship. He'd think I was an awful person for leaving my daughter like that and I knew that I was. I am the most horrible person in the universe for what I did, I'm never gonna forgive myself."

"What are you gonna do?"

"I guess I'll have to tell him," she sighed. "He's gonna hate me."

"Maybe, but you guys can work it out right?"

"I don't know, this is huge."

"What exactly happened between the two of you before you left?"

"We just kissed, but it wasn't just a friendly kiss, it was meaningful."

"Do you think you guys will get back together?"

"It all depends on what happens tomorrow," she shrugged.

"It'll be okay, you'll see." Lorelai hugged her again then pulled away. "So Leah was acting different today," she observed.

"Yeah, she actually talked to me," she said with a smile.

"And she listened while you explained about the seals. Did something happen between you two?"

"She asked me not to tell you, she doesn't wanna get in trouble."

"What's she done now?"

"About midnight last night, I was sat at the kitchen table and she came downstairs. She froze when she saw me, she thought she was busted," she chuckled.

"What were you doing sitting in the kitchen at midnight?"

"I couldn't sleep, I was a little upset," she admitted. "Anyway I asked what she was doing downstairs so she said she was thirsty. I think I solved your problem though, she said she's been going downstairs every night for a drink, maybe that's why she's been having accidents."

"She didn't wake us up last night," said Lorelai in realisation. "It was the first night in six days."

"I made her go to the bathroom when she'd finished her milk," she said proudly.

"So she's been sneaking downstairs every night for something to drink after hours? This explains it."

"Don't get mad at her though, she'll know I told you and I'm just starting to gain her trust, I don't wanna lose it again.

"I won't, mom's the word." They smiled at each other. "So what did you say to her?"

"She saw I'd been crying so she asked me what was wrong. She thought I was upset about her, because she hadn't said much to me."

"What did you tell her?"

"I said I don't blame her for not wanting to talk to me, then the tears started again. I didn't want to cry in front of her, she hardly knows me, I didn't wanna freak her out."

"What did she do?" she asked, knowing her granddaughter would do what she thought was best.

"That's what I couldn't believe. She climbed into my lap and gave me a hug, it was so amazing to hold her again and she was the one that initiated it."

"She's got a big heart," said Lorelai.

"Yeah, she asked me what was wrong again so I told her it was grown up stuff and she didn't have to worry."

"I bet she pushed you for more, she likes to think she's an adult sometimes," chuckled Lorelai.

"She told me to tell you about it, she said you like to listen," she said with a smile.

"I am known for my great listening skills," she shrugged.

"She really looks up to you, you know." Lorelai smiled. "She asked me something else," she began.

"What?"

"She asked if it was okay if she didn't call me mommy yet."

"Yet, does that mean....?"

"She said she doesn't feel ready to say it yet but she will soon," she explained.

"Ah, she's such an amazing little girl," said Lorelai with pride.

"Yeah she is, thanks to you and Luke. You've done a really great job with her mom, thank you."

"You're welcome. As unhappy as I was about you leaving, that girl was everything to me."

"I feel like I'm intruding, you've set up a family here and I'm messing up your routine."

"No you're not, I mean, yes we've got into our habits but you'll always be a part of this family. There's always room for you here."

"I feel like I'm taking her away from you."

"You're not, as long as you don't take her to the other side of the country, we'll live."

"Thanks for letting me spend time with her at the zoo today."

"Hey, it's what Leah wanted. Yesterday I told you that she has to get to know you on her own terms. I admit I thought it'd take her a little bit longer but if she's ready to include you in things, who am I to get in the way?"

"Thanks mom, you have no idea how much I love you."

"Don't get all sappy on me now," she joked.

"Oh did you talk to Luke?"

"About....."

"You know what about."

"I know and yes I did."

"Really, how did it go?" she asked hopefully.

"After some talking, we decided to go for it," she said happily.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah and we were so eager that we got to work last night," she said cheekily.

"Eww, Leah and I were in the house you know," she said, scrunching her nose up.

"I know, we were quiet don't worry."

"That's disgusting."

"You were the one encouraging this; you knew we had to have sex to make it happen. Well at least I hope you did or else I'd hate to think of what you thought you were doing when Leah was conceived."

"Okay this conversation is over," exclaimed Rory, completely grossed out. "I know how babies are made, I just didn't need to know when you and Luke were getting busy, and now I have a very disturbing image in my head." Lorelai laughed loudly.

"It's good to have you back kid," she said before going on to tease Rory some more.

When she finally emerged from Rory's room, all the lights were off so she assumed Luke was already in bed. She trudged up the stairs and peeked into Leah's room to check she was sleeping. She smiled then shut the door, making her way to her own bedroom. Luke was sprawled out on the bed, his arm thrown against Lorelai's side of the bed. She brushed her teeth then quickly undressed before climbing in next to him. He immediately wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer which made her smile.

"Lorelai," he said, his voice thick from sleep.

"Hmm."

"Did you find out what's wrong with Rory?"

"Yeah, I'll tell you in the morning babe." She kissed his cheek and settled into him. "Luke?" she asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah?" he replied without opening his eyes.

"I could be pregnant right now," she whispered. Luke smiled and moved his hand down to her stomach, running his fingers over it in slow circles. Lorelai sighed and felt herself falling asleep. She would tell him about Jess tomorrow, she thought. She didn't want to ruin the moment.

**So I've kinda left another cliffhanger here.....very sorry! I should be able to update soon too so you won't have to wait too long. Please review :D **

**Emily.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the little wait....I wanted to post for my other story cause I felt like I was abandoning it so I wrote that one last night rather than this. Thank you to my lovely reviewers, most of you say really nice things :D I don't really have much else to say except I hope I don't get anymore harsh reviews! **

Rory woke up with a dreaded feeling in the pit of her stomach the next morning. She knew she had some preparing to do, Jess wasn't automatically going to accept that Rory had a daughter she didn't tell him about, he was going to need time and space. She sighed and turned onto her back, closing her eyes tightly; hoping that if she wished hard enough, this would all be a big nightmare that she would wake from to find herself holding her newborn daughter in her arms. Her wish didn't come true, this was real and she had to deal with it.

Luke extracted his arms from around Lorelai's waist and brushed her hair away from her face. He saw her smile in her sleep before she opened her eyes to meet his.

"Morning," he whispered, his right hand stoking her hair as his left rubbed circles on her belly.

"Morning," she replied. "Is there coffee?"

"I just woke up, haven't had a chance to make it yet."

"Hmm need coffee," she mumbled.

"You know if you're pregnant you shouldn't be drinking coffee," he said.

"What? You wouldn't take my coffee away, would you?" she asked in panic.

"You're gonna have to switch to decaf."

"You're serious," she stated.

"Lorelai I don't want my kid to have two heads."

"Rory doesn't have two heads; I drank coffee when I was pregnant with her."

"But Rory is a coffee addict, just like you. I want our kid to eat better than that."

"If I am pregnant, there is no way I can go without coffee for nine months," she whined.

"Okay let's compromise," he shrugged.

"Go on..."

"You can drink coffee until we find out whether you are pregnant or not, if you are it's onto decaf," he suggested. Lorelai narrowed her eyes at him.

"Fine," she answered.

"How are you feeling anyway? Any nausea?"

"No, it's still a bit early for that. We only slept together two nights ago."

"How long do we have to wait?"

"Erm...I don't know, a week? Maybe two?"

"Man I can't wait that long," he complained.

"Aww Lukey wants to be a daddy," she cooed. Luke gave her a hard stare before smiling softly at her.

"Let me know if you get sick okay? Even if I'm in the middle of the dinner rush, I wanna know."

"I will make sure to inform you of my puking," she said with a nod.

"Jeez do you have it put it like that?"

"I'll say it however I like, you're the one that'll be the cause of the sickness so you should cut me some slack and let me walk all over you."

"Not gonna happen, I will not be your slave. Especially not during the first few months."

"So when I get fat and I can't move from the couch you won't get the remote for me?"

"Well..."

"And you won't let me squeeze your hand and scream not-so-sweet nothings at you while I push your kid out of my body?" Luke looked at her in exasperation for a few moments then his expression softened.

"Of course you can squeeze my hand while you bring our child into the world, I'm just saying, don't use this pregnancy as an excuse to not do anything, you're still capable."

"Fine, I hope I am pregnant now," she said hopefully.

"Me too." They moved into silence for a while before Lorelai spoke up.

"I have something to tell you," she began.

"What's up?"

"You're not gonna like it."

"What?"

"It's not something you wanna hear, you're gonna fly off the handle," she rambled.

"Lorelai what's going on?"

"It's Jess."

"What about him?"

"He's uh...."

"Lorelai?"

"He's coming here today, to Stars Hollow," she said quickly. Luke's expression remained blank and Lorelai rubbed his arm slowly. "You okay?"

"We haven't seen him since the wedding, since he uh...."

"Yeah I know," she replied.

"Why's he coming back?"

"For Rory I think, he doesn't know about Leah," she admitted.

"What's he gonna say when he gets here?"

"I have no idea, Rory's got some explaining to do though."

"So has Jess," said Luke angrily.

"Luke I didn't tell Rory what he did, I said she should hear it from him."

"So she should, there is no way I'm doing anything to help Jess out," he said harshly.

"He's still your nephew, I know what he did was bad but he's family."

"I don't care." Lorelai sighed. She hadn't seen Luke like this before; he was usually so caring and attentive towards his family but now he was acting like Jess didn't matter. Today was going to be interesting.

Later that morning, Luke had left for the diner already and Lorelai was putting her coat on, preparing to go to the inn.

"Hon I have to go to the inn now," called Lorelai. Rory came out from her room and smiled at Lorelai.

"Okay," she replied.

"Leah," she called up the stairs. The little girl came rushing downstairs and stopped on the bottom step.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to the inn, are you coming with or do you wanna stay here with Rory?" Leah looked between her mother and grandmother for a few minutes while she decided what she wanted to do.

"Can I stay here?" she asked.

"Of course," replied Lorelai. "Is that okay with you Rory?"

"Yeah, we'll have fun won't we?" she asked her daughter. Leah shrugged her shoulders. "We will," she assured Lorelai.

"Okay well call or come by the inn if you need me," she said, a little unsure about leaving her granddaughter with Rory all day. They'd only known each other a few days.

"Grandma can you ask Sookie if I can have a sugar cookie?" she asked.

"Yes, you want pink icing on top?"

"Mmm yes please," she said, licking her lips.

"Ror do you want a sugar cookie too?" she asked jokingly.

"Uh yeah, who am I to turn down free sugar cookies?" Lorelai chuckled.

"Okay I'll get Sookie to make you some. Have a good day okay?" she asked Leah.

"We will grandma, love you." She wrapped her arms around Lorelai's legs.

"Love you too grasshopper, be good," she warned.

"I always am." Lorelai smiled at Rory.

"Call if you have any problems."

"We'll be fine," she assured.

"I'm sorry this is the first time I've left her all day with anyone other than Luke."

"Mom we'll be fine," Rory promised.

"Okay I'll be home around five." They said goodbye then Rory went into the living room to find Leah slouched in front of the TV.

"You're not gonna sit and watch TV all day are you?" asked Rory, taking a seat next to her.

"What else should I do?" she asked, not taking her eyes off SpongeBob.

"We could go the park," she suggested.

"The playground in Stars Hollow is boring," she complained.

"Well we could go to one in Hartford."

"I don't wanna go to the park," sulked Leah. Rory sighed and sat back against the couch.

"What do you wanna do?" she asked patiently.

"I don't know."

"You're not watching TV all day," she told her.

"Why not?"

"Cause I said so," answered Rory in a very motherly way.

"You can't tell me what to do, you're not my....." Leah trailed off, realising that Rory was, in fact, her mother. Rory smiled in accomplishment.

"Okay we'll start again, where do you wanna go today?"

"We could go swimming," she sighed.

"Swimming?"

"At the pool, grandpa took me there once."

"Can you swim?" she asked.

"No, I use floaty things," she replied.

"Huh, we'll have to stop at the mall on the way there, I don't have a bathing suit," said Rory.

"So we can go?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes, go get your stuff okay?"

"Yay, thank you!" Leah hugged Rory's legs then flew off upstairs. Rory smiled as she watched her short legs carry her up the stairs, happy they were gonna spend some alone time together.

Four hours later, they returned to the crap shack. Rory dropped their bags in the foyer and collapsed on the couch next to Leah.

"Did you see me?" asked Leah excitedly. "I swimmed!"

"Yeah you did, well done," she said proudly, not bothering to correct Leah's mistake.

"I never did that before," she said happily. "I can't wait to tell grandpa." Rory smiled then checked the time. Jess was due in fifteen minutes and Rory hadn't really done any preparing, she got too carried away with Leah. "Rory?" asked Leah, noticing she had gone into a world of her own.

"Yeah?"

"What's wrong?"

"It's just uh....someone I know is coming to visit me soon."

"Who?"

"He's a friend, he's called Jess."

"What's he coming here for?"

"To see me," she answered. "But you see, I didn't tell him about you so when he gets here, can you maybe go upstairs while I tell him?" Leah looked at Rory thoughtfully then nodded.

"Okay, when's he getting here?"

"In about ten minutes."

"I'll go play with Barbie and Ken now," she said, jumping up from the couch.

"Do you want a drink and a snack to take with you in case you get peckish?"

"Yeah." They went into the kitchen and Rory got a glass from the cupboard.

"You want orange juice or apple?"

"Orange please," she replied. "Where does Jess live?" she asked curiously.

"In Philadelphia."

"Is that a long way away?"

"It's about three hours away. What snack do you want?"

"Oreos please." Rory opened Lorelai's snack cupboard and chose the Oreos. She put a few on a plate and gave it to Leah.

"I'll carry your drink upstairs," she said. As Rory was coming back downstairs after making sure Leah was settled, there was a sharp knock on the door. Rory took in a breath then swung the door open nervously.

"Hey Rory," exclaimed Jess, leaning in to kiss her cheek.

"Hi," she replied.

"Can I come in?"

"Uh...yeah sure."

"Oh are Luke and Lorelai home?" he asked cautiously.

"No they're both at work." She was really curious as to why Jess and Luke hadn't talked for such a long time but thought she should leave it a few minutes before she jumped into serious conversation. Jess stepped over the threshold and followed Rory into the living room. "Take a seat," she offered. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Nah I'm okay thanks," he refused. She glanced at him awkwardly. "So how've you been?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"Jess it's only been a few days."

"I know but it seems longer," he shrugged. "You settling back into Stars Hollow okay?"

"Yeah, things are good," she replied.

"And um...do you think you'll stay here permanently?"

"Uh...yeah I think so," she answered, knowing full well that she was staying put but not wanting Jess to know why just yet. Jess nodded and looked down at his shoes. "This is home," she shrugged.

"Yeah." Jess scratched the back of his neck nervously. "So did you tell Lorelai about....you know..."

"Yeah we talked about it," she admitted.

"How'd she take it?"

"She was upset but who could blame her? I know I'd be upset if it were my daughter." She bit her lower lip and hoped Jess didn't pick up on her slip.

"I guess, you guys are close too, well you were."

"We're working on it. She seemed mad that I didn't go to her about it all but I explained it all to her. I told her he'd probably find me in Connecticut and Philly was the first place I thought of."

"Did she understand?"

"Yeah, she gets it."

"Good." Rory crossed her arms over her chest and figured since they were addressing serious matters, she should ask about Jess' relationship with Luke.

"So mom told me you haven't been talked to Luke since the wedding, she said there's been no contact at all between the two of you."

"Yeah uh....we've just kinda drifted apart I guess."

"You guys used to call each other though, like family should do."

"Things change," said Jess in irritation.

"I know there's a reason for this, why won't you tell me?"

"It's not important," he argued.

"Jess I came to you and told you all my problems, why won't you do the same with me?" Jess sighed.

"I don't want you to be mad at me. Things have just started up between us again and I don't wanna ruin that."

"About that, I can't have a relationship with you Jess." Jess looked up at her, his eyes wide with shock.

"Why not?"

"I just have other things to think about right now," she shrugged.

"Other things?" he questioned.

"Tell me what happened with Luke," she demanded, knowing she was coming dangerously close to revealing her offspring.

"You don't need to know," he said, raising his voice.

"I want to know." Jess sighed. "If you don't tell me then Luke will and I'd much rather hear it from you."

"Okay I'll tell you," he agreed. "You know when I came back for the wedding and I was staying in Luke's apartment?"

"Yeah."

"Well he and I had a talk the night before the big day you know, about his future plans and stuff. Anyway, Luke told me he'd been saving some money...." Rory cut him off.

"Jess you didn't," she said in disbelief.

"Let me finish. He said he'd been saving it for his kids, for stuff they need, college and stuff. Anyway, I did something really stupid; I took the key for the safe while Luke wasn't looking."

"You took the money didn't you? You stole from your own uncle?" Anger was rising inside of her.

"I was in a bad place Rory, you don't understand."

"You seemed fine when we saw you at Truncheon," she spat.

"I was having money troubles, they were threatening to take some of my stuff," he shouted.

"It's still not okay, you stole from Luke. God he was saving money for his future children, my future siblings and you took it all from him." Rory stopped to take a breath. "How much did you take?" she asked, not sure whether she wanted to know the answer or not.

"It's not important," he muttered.

"How much did you take Jess?"

"Three and half thousand," he whispered.

"Three and a.....I can't believe this. Mom and Luke had just paid for their perfect wedding, they needed that money and you just took it. You know, I thought I was the reason they hadn't had any kids but I'm starting to think it's your fault."

"Why would it be your fault?" he asked. Rory shut her eyes tightly.

"It doesn't matter."

"No Rory, why would it be your fault they have no kids?"

"You know, cause I've been away for so long," she lied.

"You're such a bad liar," he commented.

"I'm not lying," she shouted.

"What's going on with you?" he asked, his voice softening.

"I don't have to answer to you after what you did to Luke."

"Rory tell me, I'm not leaving till I know the real reason." Rory looked towards the stairs and noticed a small figure at the top, staring at them through the banister. Jess followed her gaze and he too saw the small girl watching them.

"Leah you can come downstairs now," said Rory softly. Leah hesitated before walking downstairs slowly and standing in front of Rory.

"Rory are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah honey I'm fine," she replied, smiling down at the little girl.

"Who's this?" asked Jess, his voice gruff.

"This is my um...daughter," she mumbled.

"What?"

"She's my daughter," she repeated. Jess froze, looking straight ahead.

"How?" he asked. She'd been staying with him longer than a year, how did he not know about this?

"In college, Logan and I...you know and I had Leah a few months after graduation," she said. Rory glanced down at Leah who was watching her intently. The little girl had never heard this story and now she was finally gonna learn the reason her mother left her. "A couple of days after she born, I got that job offer for the campaign trail."

"And you took it?"

"Yeah you know I did."

"So you left her behind with Luke and Lorelai?"

"Yeah," she said quietly.

"How could you? You abandoned your own kid."

"Jess don't, I know it was wrong and stupid and I shouldn't have done it but you can't judge me, not after what you did."

"What did he do?" asked Leah, looking up at Rory again.

"It doesn't matter sweetie, why don't you go bring your empty glass and plate down?"

"Okay." They watched Leah run upstairs then Rory turned back to Jess.

"So you haven't been back since before the campaign trail?"

"No, we just met a few days ago."

"And she's okay with you?"

"She's getting there; we still have a long way to go." Jess paced around the room.

"I can't believe this, you have a kid and you didn't think to tell me?"

"It's not like she's yours," she retorted.

"No she's Logan's right?" Rory nodded. "So where's he?"

"It's none of your business where he is, this is nothing to do with you."

"So this is why you can't be with me?" She nodded again.

"I can't deal with this," he said, walking towards the door.

"So you're just gonna leave again? Something get's too hard for you to deal with so you run away? That's so typical of you."

"This is too much Rory."

"You always leave Jess, you always have and you always will."

"Yeah well I thought we could be together but we can't. I can't play dad to another man's child, especially Logan's.

"I don't want you to play dad, I told you we can't be together."

"Fine, I'm leaving. Goodbye Rory." He stood staring at her for a few seconds then left the crap shack, pulling the door shut behind him. Rory felt tears fill her eyes, they had always had a special connection but how can she be with a man that betrayed her family the way Jess did? She knew she wouldn't be seeing him for a long time and she was kinda glad.

"Is he my daddy?" asked Leah, causing Rory to jump in surprise. She turned around and gestured for Leah to join her on the couch.

"No, he's not your daddy," she answered.

"Who is?"

"His name is Logan," she said.

"Logan," she repeated. "Logan Gilmore?"

"No Logan Huntzberger."

"Why do we have different last names?"

"Cause you have my last name," she explained. "Your dad has a different one."

"Oh. Where is he?"

"He lives in California."

"Is that where famous people live?"

"Yep, all the celebrities live there," she exaggerated.

"Is my dad famous?" she asked in surprise. "Is he that man from that show grandma watches with those six people, he's really dumb."

"Do you mean Friends?"

"Maybe."

"No your dad wasn't in Friends," she replied.

"Oh."

"He's not famous, he just lives there."

"Is he coming here?"

"Do you want him to?" Leah looked at the floor then nodded. "I can call him and ask him to come if you want me to."

"Does he know about me?"

"Yeah of course he does."

"Why hasn't he been back?" Rory sighed, preparing for a long explanation of why Logan's been absent all his daughter's life.

Jess stepped into the almost empty diner, Kirk was the only customer. Luke looked up and glared at Jess when he realised his nephew had stepped into his diner for the first time in four years.

"What do you want?" Luke grumbled.

"I'm leaving," he replied.

"There's a surprise."

"I just wanted to give you this." Jess tossed a wad of cash at Luke and it landed on the counter. Luke looked down at it then back up at Jess questioningly. "There's two thousand there, I know there was more but I haven't got it yet." Luke nodded his head once. "See ya later."

"Jess," Luke called. Jess turned back to look at him, pausing in the doorway. "Don't get back together with Rory, she doesn't need you."

"Don't worry, so not gonna happen," he mumbled before leaving the diner without another word. Luke watched him walk across the square then picked up the cash from the counter, knowing he might have a kid to spend it on very soon.

**So I'm stuck for stuff to say in my author's notes haha. Erm....oh yeah, this is not gonna be a Literati fic, sorry for the fans. But it just worked out this way so again very sorry. I know the direction this story is taking now and hopefully it should be finished soon! Ten more chapters at the most I think. Please don't forget to review!**

**Emily.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry about the wait guys, I've been busy! I passed my driving test yesterday :D Anyway thank you to all the reviewers ;) I really love hearing from you. Here is your next instalment...**

"Rory!" called Lorelai as she rushed into the house that evening. "Rory, fruit of my loin, where are you?"

"I'm here," she replied as she hurried down the stairs. "What's going on?"

"I have fantastic news," she said excitedly.

"Ooh what?" asked Rory with intrigue.

"Okay are you ready cause it's gonna totally blow you away, dirty by the way."

"Mom just spit it out already."

"Okay that just earned another dirty."

"Mom!"

"Right." She cleared her throat. "I, Lorelai Danes, ate an apple today," she said proudly. Rory narrowed her eyes at Lorelai then they suddenly went wide.

"Oh my god, you're pregnant," she exclaimed, jumping up and down with excitement. Lorelai joined in and wrapped her arms around her daughter.

"It's still early but this is a sign," she said while jumping.

"What are you two doing?" asked Leah as she walked downstairs. "You look like the Teletubbies when they have a big hug." Lorelai and Rory pulled apart and stopped jumping, unable to wipe the smiles from their faces.

"You need to take a test," said Rory.

"I know, I can't buy one in Stars Hollow though," she frowned. "Woodbury would know about it before I did."

"Okay well we could go to that twenty four hour store about fifteen minutes away."

"I guess. First, let's talk about what you did today." She sat on the couch and held her arms out to Leah. The little girl ran over to her and jumped into her lap. "Ugh," she complained. "You're gonna have to stop doing that soon." Leah smiled up at her. "Did you have fun with Rory today?"

"Yep I swimmed," she said proudly.

"You mean you swam?" Leah nodded.

"We went to the pool," she informed her.

"Wow, the pool huh?" She glanced up at Rory and smiled. She wasn't expecting her to even take Leah out of the house, never mind out of Stars Hollow.

"Yeah and I used those arm things that help you swim."

"Cool, did you swim the entire length of the pool?"

"I did in the little pool but in the big one Rory held me up."

"It sounds like you had a good time."

"I did, Rory's the best mommy ever," she said happily. Rory felt herself smile and a warm feeling coursed through her, filling her heart. Leah hadn't called her 'mommy' directly but she'd referred to her as it. Lorelai looked up and saw Rory smiling stupidly and couldn't help but smile back. "We went to Dunkin' Donuts after too."

"Oh really? Did you bring me something?" Leah bit down on her bottom lip and shook her head causing Lorelai to gasp. "You're telling me that you went to a donut shop and didn't buy your old grandma anything?"

"Sorry."

"You have to eat a cheeseburger now, it's the rules."

"Nooo," she whined. "I'll get you a donut next time, I promise." Lorelai narrowed her eyes.

"O...kay," she agreed. "Pinkie promise?" Leah hooked her pinkie around Lorelai's and smiled.

"Rory next time we go to Dunkin' Donuts we have to buy grandma one," she told her.

"Okay, I'll remember that. What was it, rainbow sprinkles?" she asked, trying to remember Lorelai's preferred choice.

"Chocolate and rainbow sprinkles," Lorelai corrected.

"Let's go now," said Leah, jumping from Lorelai's lap and tugging on Rory's hand.

"Not now," replied Rory. "We'll go a different day okay?"

"Pleeeaaaase?"

"No," she said sternly. Leah pouted and the corners of Rory's lips turned upwards. "I see she's perfected the pout," she said proudly.

"Leah if grandpa sees you doing that he won't be happy," warned Lorelai.

"But he's not here," she shrugged.

"But I'll tell him."

"No don't," she begged.

"Don't worry I wouldn't. You're a Gilmore girl; it's what we do best." Leah smiled at Lorelai then looked up at Rory.

"Please, please, please can we go to the donut place?" she pleaded.

"Not now," said Rory. "How about we go to another store instead?"

"What other store?" she asked curiously.

"CVS, it's only a quarter of an hour away."

"Why would we go there?"

"Just to look," she shrugged. "What do you say mom?" Lorelai gave her a pointed look.

"It's too early," she reminded, not meaning the time of day.

"It's worth a try, then you don't have to go back in a couple of days." Lorelai stared at her then shrugged her shoulders.

"Fine let's go to the pharmacy." They stood up and got into their coats before making their way to the car.

"I'll drive," offered Rory. As they drove through Stars Hollow, Leah pointed out of the window.

"There's grandpa," she exclaimed as they passed the diner. "Grandpa!" she shouted, hoping Luke would hear her through the closed window. "Grandpa," she repeated.

"Leah stop shouting, he's not gonna hear you from inside the diner," said Lorelai.

"I just wanted to say hi," she said.

"You'll see him soon," she told her. When they got to the pharmacy, Leah raced towards the candy aisle closely followed by Lorelai and Rory. "Hey I'm gonna go uh...." she gestured towards the pharmacy part of the store.

"Okay, you want me to come with you?"

"No it's okay, stay here and watch Leah," she said before walking away.

"Where's grandma going?" asked Leah.

"She's just gone to look at grown up stuff," she replied. "Do you want something from here?"

"Erm....can I get gummy worms?"

"Sure, let's look around a bit before we pay okay?" Rory guided her around the aisles of food until Leah stopped and picked something up.

"We should get these for grandma," she said, holding up a pack of four donuts with rainbow sprinkles on.

"Do you think we can get them without her seeing?" asked Rory.

"If we go now we can."

"Okay let's go." Leah grabbed Rory's hand and the pair walked over to the checkout. Lorelai approached them as they stood in the entryway waiting for her.

"I got them," she said quietly. Rory eyed the carrier bag that Lorelai was clutching and shook her head.

"How many did you buy exactly?" she asked, noticing the bag was almost full.

"Twelve," she shrugged.

"Why so many?"

"Cause I wanna be sure about this okay?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"Yeah twelve just seems like a lot."

"Well I'll take three today so I can be sure I've gotten the right result then if it comes out negative I'll try again in a few days."

"So that's six," said Rory. "What are the other six for?"

"In case it still hasn't shown up in a couple of days, then I'll wait another few days and so on until I have the correct result."

"Wow you've really thought this through."

"What did you buy grandma?"

"Nothing honey," denied Lorelai.

"Doesn't look like nothing, it looks like a lot."

"It's just some lady things, you won't know what they are," she dismissed.

"Okay, I got you something," she said, reaching into the bag that Rory was holding. "It's from me and Rory."

"Ooh what is it?" Leah brought the donuts out of the bag and held them up for Lorelai to see.

"Chocolate rainbow sprinkle donuts," she exclaimed.

"Aww you kept your pinkie swear," she said. Leah nodded. "How about we go home for dinner then have a donut for dessert?"

"Yeah, do you think grandpa will have one?"

"I doubt it," she frowned.

"But there's four, so if you have one and Rory has one and I have one, there's one left so grandpa should eat it."

"You are so smart," gushed Rory, surprised at how her three year old daughter had the ability to think so hard about things.

"I know," she grinned.

"Come on, let's go see what grandpa's making for dinner," said Lorelai. The three Gilmore women made their way out to the car, heading back for Stars Hollow to do what they do best, eat. "Lukey, we're home," called Lorelai.

"Kitchen," he called.

"Ah where else would you be?" She greeted him with a kiss and smiled sweetly at him, clutching the bag behind her back.

"Don't call me Lukey again," he warned.

"Whatcha gonna do?"

"I'll go to sleep every night before you get upstairs, so you miss out on that thing I know you love so much," he teased.

"Eww," complained Rory.

"What thing?" asked Leah. "Do you read bedtime stories?"

"Something like that," replied Lorelai.

"Can I join some nights too?" she asked hopefully, completely oblivious to what they were referring to. Lorelai pressed her lips together, trying to contain her laughter as Luke looked disgusted at the thought.

"Hey what's for dinner?" asked Rory, changing the subject to protect her sweet little girl from hearing the truth.

"Fried chicken," he answered.

"Yummy," said Leah and Rory simultaneously.

"Like mother, like daughter," muttered Luke before turning back to the chicken.

"I'm gonna go freshen up before dinner," said Lorelai, backing up towards the living room. She gestured for Rory to go with her and the two made their way upstairs.

"I missed you today grandpa," said Leah sadly.

"I missed you too sweetie," he replied. "Wanna help me with the chicken?" Leah's eyes lit up and she nodded vigorously. Luke pulled her footstool over to the stove and stood her on it, telling her what to do.

"I swimmed today," she said.

"You swam?"

"Yeah, Rory took me to the pool."

"Wow did you have a good time?" Leah nodded.

"I like Rory," she said.

"You do huh?"

"Yeah I'm glad she comed back to see me." Luke smiled down at her and sighed.

"Me too Leah, me too."

Upstairs, Rory stood outside the bathroom while Lorelai went about her business. Lorelai was nervous. She didn't know why, this is what she wanted, a baby, Luke's baby, but she couldn't stop herself from shaking. After flooding two tests, she managed to successfully take three more. She put the cap back on the end and set them next to the sink as she set the timer on her phone for the allotted time.

"Rory it's safe to come in now," she called. Rory pushed the door open and smiled at Lorelai as she sat on the edge of the bathtub.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah I'm just nervous," she replied. "It brings back memories of when I was waiting to find out if I was pregnant with you, I was a mess."

"Well I know how that feels," she empathised.

"Yeah." Lorelai looked down at the floor. "Oh how did it go with Jess?" She heard Rory sigh deeply.

"Bad, really, really bad."

"Did he tell you about what happened?"

"Hmm, I can't believe him, how could he do that to Luke, to you?"

"Jess will always be Jess," she shrugged.

"I don't get it, when we went to see him at Truncheon before the wedding, it seemed like he had it together. He looked like he'd come so far, that he'd grown out of that rebellious 'I hate my life' stage. I guess I was wrong."

"What did he say about Leah?"

"He was fuming," she answered.

"I figured he'd act like that."

"He err....he left, again."

"Oh, I thought he was gonna stick around for a while."

"That was before; when he thought we could be together."

"Why can't you now?"

"He said he can't play dad to another man's child, especially not Logan's."

"Oh Ror, I'm sorry," she said softly.

"No I'm okay, I don't need him anyway," she shrugged. "There's something else," she began.

"What?"

"After Jess left, Leah asked if he was her father."

"What did you say?"

"I told her the truth, she deserves to know."

"So you told her about Logan?"

"Yeah, she took it pretty well."

"Really?"

"Yeah, in fact she said she wanted him to come and see her."

"She did? Are you gonna call him?"

"Yeah, Leah asked me to, I can't ignore her. If he says no then I'll explain it to her."

"I doubt he'll say no, he was gonna come back and see her before you went to see Jess right?" Rory nodded.

"I wonder if he's been trying to contact me at all. I changed my cell phone number after I left."

"We haven't had any calls here; he knows the number doesn't he?"

"I think so," she shrugged. "I don't know, I just wonder if...." They were cut off by the sound of the alarm on Lorelai's phone. "It's time," whispered Rory.

"Yeah," agreed Lorelai.

"You gonna look?" Lorelai nodded slowly. She rose from the toilet lid and walked over to the sink. She picked up the first test, closed her eyes tightly, then opened them to reveal the result. The word 'pregnant' read across the screen and Lorelai's eyes filled with tears. "Mom what does it say?" asked Rory.

"Pregnant," she whispered.

"That's great," she exclaimed. "Look at the others." Lorelai snapped out of her daze and nodded, picking up the second test. This was a different brand and the results were a little harder to read.

"There are two blue lines," she said. "What does that mean?" Rory searched through the boxes and picked up the right one. She read the instructions carefully then glanced up at her mother.

"Pregnant," she exclaimed.

"Wow, what's this one say?" She picked up the last one and instantly smiled when she saw it. "It's pink," she said. "I know what that means."

"Pregnant!" they said at the same time. Rory jumped up from the bathtub and hugged Lorelai tightly.

"I'm so happy for you," she said in almost a whisper.

"Thanks kid, I'm happy for me too." They pulled away from each other and smiled brightly.

"Lorelai, Rory, dinner's ready," called Luke from downstairs.

"Coming," they replied. Lorelai quickly gathered up the tests and stuffed them back in the bag. She put them in the drawer of her nightstand and followed Rory downstairs, unable to hide the smiled that traced her lips.

That night, the four of them were sat in the living room watching some movie Lorelai had chosen. Luke and Lorelai were at one end of the couch curled up together, Rory was at the other and Leah was squashed between them, snuggling into Rory's side as she began to get tired.

"Are you getting sleepy?" asked Rory quietly.

"No," replied Leah.

"Liar."

"I'm a little sleepy."

"Time for bed me thinks," said Rory.

"Yeah Leah you've already stayed up later than usual, time for bed," said Luke.

"Okay," she sighed in defeat.

"Come on, I'll tuck you in," said Lorelai.

"No I want Rory to do it," she protested.

"Okay," she shrugged. Leah kissed both Luke and Lorelai's cheeks then took Rory's hand and led her upstairs. Once Leah was dressed in PJs, her teeth were brushed and her face was washed, Rory tucked the covers around her and settled onto the bed.

"Did you have a good time today?" asked Rory.

"Yeah thank you."

"You're welcome. Do you want me to read you a story?"

"No I'm tired," she replied.

"Okay I'll let you sleep then." Rory stood up but Leah stopped her.

"Can you get Colonel Clucker from over there? I can't sleep without him."

"Sure honey." Rory picked up the stuffed hen and tucked it under the duvet next to Leah. "You gonna be okay now?" Leah nodded. "Okay, night sweetie." She smoothed Leah's hair back and smiled down at her.

"Night mommy," she mumbled as she drifted into dreamland. Rory stared down at her slumbering daughter and tears filled her eyes. Leah had just called her mommy for the first time and the feeling was overwhelming. She kissed the girl's forehead lightly then turned off the light and closed the door behind her as she left.

A few hours later, Lorelai rushed upstairs and took the positive pregnancy tests from her nightstand. She went into the bathroom and put all three on the sink, right next to Luke's toothbrush. She quickly brushed her teeth and washed her face then went out to the bedroom to change. A couple of minutes later, Luke's footsteps could be heard on the stairs so she climbed into bed and opened her book, trying to act as normal as possible. She heard him walk over to Leah's room to check on her, then close the door again and head to their bedroom.

"You got ready for bed quickly," he commented as he removed his shirt and replaced it with a t shirt. He pulled off his jeans and put on a pair of sweatpants then padded into the bathroom. She sat in anticipation as she waited for him to find the tests she had left in such an obvious place. When he finally emerged from the bathroom, he was holding them between his fingers, a look of confusion and hope on his face. "Lorelai?" he asked.

"Hmm?" she replied, not looking up from her book.

"What are these?" He held the tests out for her to see and she flashed him her brilliant smile.

"Well you see I peed on this little stick that's under this cap thingy and a couple of minutes later it told me what I wanted to know," she shrugged. Luke ignored her sarcasm.

"You're pregnant," he stated in disbelief.

"Yes you successfully knocked me up, stud," she said flirtatiously.

"We're gonna have a baby," he said, still disbelievingly. "We're gonna have a baby!" he exclaimed. Before Lorelai could say anything in return, Luke had scooped her up in his arms and was kissing her with all the love he had. They pulled away and looked into each other's eyes.

"No need to ask if you're happy about this," she joked.

"Damn right I'm happy about this, I can't believe it."

"Well done for doing it on the first try," she congratulated. "It must be your super sperm."

"Lorelai," he groaned. "You always, always ruin the moment." Lorelai giggled and leaned in to kiss him again.

"Now put me down," she ordered. "I wanna get in bed." Luke laid her back in her previous place and settled down next to her. He unconsciously rubbed circles on her belly as he smiled down at her.

"I love you," he whispered.

"Likewise," she replied, her hand reaching down to cover his on her stomach. They shared one last kiss then fell asleep, both touching the place their unborn child had taken residence.

**Did you like? I hope so! Please review, I don't really have anything to say to be honest. Sorry for being so rubbish with words :D I'll try to have the next chapter up ASAP...**

**Emily.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm really sorry....I haven't updated in forever, well a couple of weeks but it's still a long time. I hope you're all still reading! Thank you for all the reviews in the last chapter, they were very nice comments :D Now on with the story...**

"Luke," Lorelai murmured when she felt the mattress shift early the next morning.

"Shh, go back to sleep," he whispered.

"Where are you going?" she asked without opening her eyes.

"Early deliveries at the diner," he replied. Lorelai groaned and reached for him, trying to pull him back to her. "I've gotta go," he refused. "I'll see you for breakfast okay?" Hearing the word 'breakfast', Lorelai sat bolt upright in bed and put her hand over her mouth. "You okay?" Luke asked, alarmed at how quickly she had moved.

"I don't...." She jumped out of bed and rushed into the bathroom, the contents of her stomach emptying into the toilet. Luke rushed after her and grabbed her hair, holding it back for her.

"It's okay," he said as he soothingly rubbed her back. When the vomiting finally stopped, Lorelai leaned back into Luke and took a few deep breaths. "What was that?" he asked.

"Morning sickness," she answered. "One of the many joys of being pregnant."

"So you're gonna throw up like that every morning?" he asked incredulously.

"And afternoon and evening and any time of the damn day," she rambled.

"But it get's better right?" he asked, not wanting his wife to go through that every day for the next nine months.

"Yeah it should calm down after a couple of months," she assured.

"So what else do you have to put up with besides throwing up all the time?"

"Ah let's see, well there's the need to pee every ten minutes, feeling tired all the time, weird cravings and of course, sore breasts," she said, trying to sound thrilled.

"Jeez, I'm sorry," he apologised.

"Why are you sorry?"

"It's my fault you have to go through all that, I did this to you."

"Luke, we both wanted this remember. It's not your fault." Luke nodded.

"You think you're done now?" he asked.

"Yeah, for now anyway." Luke helped her to her feet then flushed the toilet. Lorelai quickly brushed her teeth then followed Luke into their bedroom.

"Go back to sleep okay?"

"Yeah it's way to early," she complained. Luke grabbed her round the waist and pulled her towards him.

"Come to the diner for breakfast?"

"Of course," she whispered before leaning forward to kiss him goodbye. "Love you," she said when they pulled apart.

"Love you too." Lorelai watched him leave then climbed back into bed, quickly drifting off to sleep again.

"Mom wake up," Rory whispered a couple of hours later.

"Ugh," was Lorelai's response as she pulled a pillow over her head.

"Mom I wanna talk to you."

"Rory go away."

"No."

"Demon child," she mumbled.

"I'm twenty five, I'm not a child."

"Whatever."

"Mom this is important," she stressed.

"Fine," she huffed as she removed the pillow from covering her face.

"Thank you."

"What do you wanna talk about?"

"It's about Leah," Rory began.

"What about her?"

"Mom will you open your eyes? I can' talk to you if they're closed." Lorelai exhaled and turned on her side as she opened her eyes.

"Okay, now what's this about Leah?"

"You know last night when I put her to bed?"

"Yeah."

"Well I 'd just tucked her in with Colonel Clucker and do you know what she said to me when I said goodnight?" Lorelai didn't answer. "Mom."

"What?" Lorelai asked.

"Do you know what Leah said to me last night?"

"What?"

"She said, goodnight mommy," she answered proudly. Lorelai was speechless for some moments, her mouth hanging open as if she was gonna speak but no words were coming out. "Mom?"

"Err...wow. I mean that happened sooner than I thought it would," she muttered.

"Yeah but I was so happy when she said it, I still am."

"I'm happy for you sweets," said Lorelai sincerely. "Is she awake?"

"No I checked on her before I came in and she was still sleeping. Oh did you talk to Luke about the baby?"

"Yup. I left the tests next to his toothbrush so he'd find them."

"You couldn't just say, Luke I'm pregnant?" asked Rory, knowing her mother had to do things differently.

"No it had to be special."

"How is Luke finding them next to his toothbrush special?"

"Cause it's different, unique if you will."

"Okay," said Rory, shaking her head. "So what did he say?"

"He was a little confused at first but when I confirmed it he was jumping for joy. He even picked me up and kissed me."

"Aww Luke's such a softy at heart," Rory gushed.

"You bet he is."

"So you're both excited about this?"

"Absolutely, I'm so happy Ror," said Lorelai with a wide smile.

"I'm glad to hear it," she replied, happy to see her mother was happy.

"How do you feel about this? I mean you seemed to be excited yesterday but we never really talked about it."

"I couldn't be happier, I'm gonna have a little brother or sister," she squealed. "Oh and you've got another room from the expansion right? So that can be the nursery."

"Yeah, I always thought that we'd have to move if I had more kids but the house is big enough now so we can stay."

"Are you gonna find out if it's a girl or a boy?"

"I don't know, I haven't thought about it. We only found out yesterday."

"If you find out you can paint the nursery and buy clothes," she stated.

"We can always buy gender neutral colours," she shrugged.

"But pink or blue is so much better though."

"We'll see, I don't even know what Luke wants to do. If he wants to know then we'll find out and if he doesn't, we'll wait." Rory nodded thoughtfully.

"Did you find out what I was?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah, as soon as I found out you were a girl, I went out and bought a tiny pink outfit. I couldn't wait to meet you so I could dress you in it."

"See, you can have that again if you find out."

"Jeez will you stop bugging me about this?" she snapped.

"Whoa those are some bad hormones you've got there." Lorelai threw a pillow in Rory's direction, not able to keep the smile off her face.

"Demon child."

"I'm not a...."

"I know, you're not a child," she mimicked. "I can't believe you're twenty five and I'm just having my second now."

"The age gap doesn't matter, what does matter is that it's happening."

"Yeah. This kid's gonna be Leah's aunt, how weird is that?"

"Very weird," Rory agreed.

Leah descended the staircase expecting everyone to be awake already. She reached the living room and frowned when she found it empty and the drapes still closed. She went into the kitchen and found no one there either.

"Grandma?" she said quietly, beginning to get scared. She tip-toed over to Rory's room where the door was open and peeked inside. Rory's bed was made and the drapes were open, the light shining through, brightening the room. Tears began to form in her eyes as she thought everyone had left her. She turned around and ran up the stairs, entering her room and slamming the door shut behind her.

Lorelai and Rory heard a loud bang and both jumped off the bed, wondering what had happened. They rushed to Leah's room and found the door shut, the door was never closed all the way, they always left it open a little. Lorelai pushed it open and was surprised to find Leah crying on her bed.

"Honey what's wrong?" she asked, hurrying over to her and pulling her into her lap.

"I thought you leaved me," she sobbed, clinging onto Lorelai's shirt, which was actually Luke's blue flannel.

"Why would we leave you huh?"

"Downstairs is quiet," she mumbled.

"That's cause we were in my room, why didn't you look in there?" Lorelai asked as she held her granddaughter close to her. Leah shrugged. Rory felt helpless stood by the door so she walked further into the room and sat down on the bed. Leah looked over at her through watery eyes and smiled slightly.

"Are you okay sweetie?" asked Rory. Leah nodded then more tears rolled down her cheeks. "Hey we're here now, you don't have to be sad anymore," she said softly. Leah turned, still in Lorelai's arms, and crawled into Rory's lap. Rory smiled and wrapped her arms around her daughter, lightly rubbing her back.

"Can we get breakfast mommy?" asked Leah as she looked up at Rory with pleading eyes. Rory smiled down at her, loving the sound of the word 'mommy', before smiling over at Lorelai. Lorelai returned the smile then ran her fingers through Leah's tangled blonde locks.

"Why don't you ask grandma?" she said. Leah turned her head to look at Lorelai.

"Yes we can get breakfast, grandpa wanted us to go to the diner."

"Yay, can I have fruit salad?"

"Leah you're so weird," said Lorelai with a shake of her head. "Why would you get a fruit salad when you can have pancakes and bacon?"

"I'm not weird," she pouted.

"No you're not," agreed Rory, her arms still wrapped around Leah. "Grandma's just being mean."

"I am not!" protested Lorelai.

"Yes you are, meanie," said Leah, sticking her tongue out at her grandmother.

"Rory control your daughter," she ordered.

"Why? She's just telling the truth mom," Rory shrugged, smiling down at Leah.

"Why are you ganging up on me?"

"Cause you were being mean," replied Leah. Lorelai crossed her arms across her chest and pouted, causing Leah and Rory to erupt into giggles.

After their trip to the diner, the three Gilmore girls sat in front of the TV trying to find something worthwhile to watch. When they finally settled on Teletubbies, Rory excused herself. She took the phone from it's cradle and went to her room, closing the door behind her. She settled herself on her bed and took a deep breath before dialling the familiar cell phone number.

"Hello," she heard a deep voice on the other end. She opened her mouth to speak but found she was unable to say anything so she quickly hung up. She dropped the phone in front of her and put her head in her hands. She didn't think it was gonna be this hard to do. As she was about to try again, the phone began to ring. She stared at it intently then finally plucked up the courage to answer it after the fifth ring.

"Hello?" she said quietly.

"Hi my name is Logan Huntzberger, did you just call me?" he asked. Rory stayed silent for a few seconds. "Are you still there?"

"Um...yeah I'm still here." Something must have clicked in Logan's head then.

"Rory?" he asked hopefully. She didn't answer again. "Rory if that's you, don't hang up. I know what happened, I know why you left. I'm sorry I didn't see it." Rory didn't know what to say, he knew? Had Oliver told him? Then it dawned on her, she shouldn't be calling Logan, Oliver would find out where she was.

"I shouldn't have called, sorry." She was about to hang up but she heard Logan begging her not to.

"Ace, Ace don't hang up, I need to talk to you. I missed you," he said desperately and Rory didn't have the heart to put the phone down now, she'd missed him too.

"Okay, I'm still here."

"I know what Oliver did to you Ace, why didn't you tell me?" Rory blinked.

"I couldn't," she mumbled.

"You can tell me anything."

"No, he was gonna punish me if I told anyone, I didn't want that to happen. I shouldn't even be calling you, he can't find out where I am."

"He won't, he's in jail."

"What?"

"He did it to someone else and they caught him, he's locked up."

"Oh..."

"Everything's okay," he assured. Rory swallowed hard, trying to rid the dehydration so was feeling.

"I'm sorry I left without telling you."

"It's okay, I understand. Where did you go?" Rory cleared her throat. She really didn't wanna tell Logan where she was, he wouldn't be happy when he found out she'd been staying with her ex for the last year.

"Philadelphia," she muttered. "I stayed with a friend."

"Are you there now?" he asked.

"No, I'm in Stars Hollow with our daughter." She heard Logan take a deep breath.

"Oh yeah?" he asked, trying to sound calm.

"Yeah, I came back a couple of days ago. That's why I'm calling you actually, she wants to meet you."

"You told her about me?" he asked, obviously surprised.

"Of course I did, you're her father."

"But..."

"Please come Logan, you have to meet her." Logan sighed.

"I don't know Ace, I'm not sure I can get away." Rory's face fell visibly, not that it mattered, she was the only one in the room after all.

"Please," she whispered.

"When do you want me to get there?" he asked.

"As soon as you can, she's eager to see you. I am too."

"I'll see what I can do and I'll get back to you about it." She could almost hear the smile in his voice.

"Okay, thank you."

"So what's she like?" he asked curiously.

"She's great, really, really great," she emphasised the 'really'.

"Yeah?"

"Yup, she looks like you."

"She does?"

"Well she has the same colour hair as you and her face shape is similar to yours. She has my eyes though."

"Those eyes are gonna be passed through generations," he commented.

"She's beautiful," she said with a smile.

"Just like her mom," replied Logan. Rory blushed and looked down at her knees. "So you'll call me when you know when you can get here for?"

"Yeah I'll send you the details, hopefully it shouldn't be too long."

"Okay, Leah and I will be waiting."

"Okay, talk to you soon."

"Bye Logan." She was just about to hang up when Logan spoke again.

"Oh and Ace?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you." Rory grinned but didn't say it back.

"Bye Logan," she said, the smile evident in her voice. They both hung up and Rory looked down at the phone in her hands before walking back into the living room.

"What were you doing?" asked Leah.

"I was calling your dad," she answered.

"Really?" she asked excitedly. "What did he say?"

"He's gonna find out when he can come and see you."

"Yay!"

"Okay calm down missy."

"So are you excited to meet your dad?" asked Lorelai, making her presence known in the conversation.

"Yeah I can't wait. Do you know him too grandma?"

"Oh yes, I know him alright," she said bitterly.

"Do you like him?" Lorelai looked down at her granddaughter.

"Sure I do," she replied, not wanting to tell her what she really thought of Logan. The guy abandoned his pregnant girlfriend, her daughter, she wasn't expected to like him. His return was definitely gonna be interesting, she was just worried about Luke's reaction to all of this.

**I have an idea of where I want this story to go but it is coming straight from my mind as I write it so bear with me! Please review, I crave reviews. Let's see if we can hit 100 :D Thank you and hopefully you won't have to wait so long next time!**

**Emily.**


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm really sorry about the long wait you had on this...if you read my other story you'll know I've been busy lately. I managed to write this short chapter though, cause I got a message asking me to update. It's just a filler, the next chapter will be much better, I promise!**

**Thank you to all who reviewed last time, much appreciated! **

"Mommy?" Leah asked a week later.

"Yeah hon?"

"How much longer?" Rory checked her watch.

"Eighteen hours," she replied.

"How long is that?"

"A little less than a day."

"How much less?"

"Six hours."

"How long is that?" the little girl asked curiously.

"Leah quit questioning me," Rory scolded as they entered the Crap Shack.

"But I wanna see him now," Leah whined.

"I know sweetie," said Rory, crouching down so she was at her daughter's level. "It's not that long, you'll be asleep for most of it anyway so it'll go by really fast."

"Promise?" she asked, holding her pinkie out to her mom.

"Promise," Rory repeated in agreement, linking her pinkie with Leah's much smaller one. Leah jumped onto the couch and got comfortable while Rory went to the kitchen. She stood at the counter as she watched her coffee brew and thought about what tomorrow would bring for the Gilmore/Danes family.

Truth was, Logan was returning after more than a year apart from her, all for the daughter he'd never met. They'd spoken on the phone various times that week but whenever they talked about Leah, which was a lot, she could hear awkwardness in his voice, like he was unsure about their daughter or something.

Rory snapped out of her thoughts when the coffee maker beeped at her, telling her it was ready. She quickly filled a mug with the dark brown liquid, poured some milk for Leah, along with a few cookies, and took a few for herself.

"Here you go," she announced as she put the snacks on the coffee table. Leah smiled at her before taking a huge gulp of her milk. She set the glass down again and looked back at her mother.

"Where's grandma?" she asked.

"She had to work late tonight at the inn." Leah frowned.

"She never works at night."

"That's because she had you to take care of but you can stay with me now."

"Okay," said Leah, accepting that answer. "What about grandpa?"

"Grandpa's working too, we just saw him at the diner remember?" The little girl nodded.

"How much longer?" she asked, once again thinking about the impending arrival of her long lost father. Rory rolled her eyes but checked her watch anyway.

"Seventeen hours and forty three minutes," she replied tiredly.

"How long is that?" Leah asked, seemingly repeating their previous conversation.

"Not this again," complained Rory. "Eat your cookies," she ordered in a very motherly tone. Leah frowned then glanced down at her cookies, not making any attempt to pick one up. Rory noticed her fallen expression and put an arm around her daughter's shoulders. "He'll be here soon okay?" Leah nodded sadly. "What's wrong sweetie?" she asked in concern.

"Will daddy like me?" she asked in a small voice. The question resembled the one she asked Lorelai the night before Rory arrived in town. Rory smiled down at her daughter's wide blue eyes.

"Of course he'll like you," she promised. "He's really excited to meet you, you know?"

"Really?" Leah asked hopefully.

"Yeah, he said he can't wait."

"Me either." Leah picked up a cookie and chewed thoughtfully before speaking up again. "Why wasn't I allowed to talk to him on the phone?" Rory sighed, boy she was full of questions tonight.

"Well daddy thought it'd be better if the first time you talked to each other was in person so you could look at each other." Leah looked up at her as she processed the information.

"I thinked he didn't wanna talk to me," she said in that small, sad voice again.

"No that's not it at all," Rory said reassuringly and Leah nodded. "Hey why don't we get in our PJs, climb into bed and work on your reading huh?" Leah's little face lit up.

"Okay!" she exclaimed excitedly as she stood up from the couch. The girls raced upstairs, leaving their used plates on the coffee table. Once settled in Leah's slightly too small bed, they opened the book to the first page and Rory coached her daughter as she attempted to read it by herself.

"You're getting good at reading you know," Rory told her as they turned the page.

"I am?"

"Yep, you'll be doing it all by yourself soon," she said proudly. Leah grinned before turning her attention back to the book in front of them. Before they knew it, they were both sound asleep.

"Hey," Lorelai greeted as she entered the diner. "What are you still doing here?"

"Just catching up on some receipts," he replied as he gave her a quick kiss. "Have you just finished at the inn?"

"Yeah, I was driving past and saw the lights on so I came to check it out." Luke smiled at her.

"You know you shouldn't be working so late, especially not in your condition," he scolded.

"What condition?" she asked incredulously. "I'm pregnant, I'm not dying."

"I just want you and the baby to be healthy," he shrugged, an edge of concern in his tone.

"We will be," she assured. "I was sat at my desk in my office most of the time, I swear." Luke nodded.

"Just be careful," he warned.

"I will," she replied, rolling her eyes in the process. "Can I get some apple juice?" she asked as she took a seat at the counter. Luke smiled to himself.

"Sure." He poured her a glass and slid it across the counter to her. He loved how her pregnancy was causing her to eat better, this was definitely his kid, not that he doubted it was in the first place.

"Mm, so refreshing," she hummed.

"You want anything to eat?" he asked. "I can make you something if you like." Lorelai shook her head.

"Let's go home," she said, polishing off her apple juice. She stood up and held her hand out for Luke to take. He gladly took hold of it and wrapped his fingers around hers as they walked towards the door. He quickly locked up then the happy couple began to walk in the direction of the Crap Shack. "So about tomorrow," Lorelai began. "How are you feeling about all that?"

"Okay I guess," he shrugged. Lorelai wasn't buying it.

"You sure?" Luke nodded.

"What about you?" Lorelai frowned at the fact he had changed the subject onto her once again but went along with it anyway.

"I'm glad that Logan's finally willing to step up and be a dad to his kid, I mean it's more than Christopher ever did for Rory."

"But?" Luke prompted her to continue.

"But it's just been the three of us for so long now and...I don't know, I feel like Leah's slipping away from us somehow." Luke understood exactly what she meant, they had their little family all set up and in a routine, but now it was all being messed around with.

"I know," he said, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him.

"Don't get me wrong, I love having Rory around again. I've missed her so much but I feel like our family's been broken apart." Luke noticed a few tears escaping from Lorelai's eyes, hormones, he suspected. He stopped walking and pulled her into his arms, running his hand through her hair while the other smoothed over her back comfortingly.

"It's not being broken up okay?" he asked softly.

"But if Rory and Logan get back together then they'll get their own place and take Leah with them," she sniffled. "Then it'll just be the two of us."

"And our baby," he added, smiling into her apple-scented hair. God she did like apples nowadays, he thought.

"Yeah, our baby," she murmured, barely above a whisper. "I still don't wanna lose her."

"You won't lose her," Luke promised. "Rory would never take her away from you."

"But..."

"No buts, they'll always be around, okay?"

"Okay." Lorelai buried her head further into his chest as the tears subsided.

"You doing okay now," he asked cautiously. Lorelai pulled away and looked up at him as she nodded.

"Stupid hormones," she muttered, quickly wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Nah, you were crazy before," he joked, taking her hand in his again as they continued the walk the walk home. Lorelai slapped him lightly on the arm and grinned uncontrollably at him. They reached the house and Luke locked the doors behind him before following Lorelai upstairs to their bedroom. They got ready for bed in silence, both lost in their own thoughts as they went about their nightly routines.

"I'm gonna check on Leah," said Lorelai before disappearing through the door. She pushed the slightly ajar door open and smiled softly at the scene in front of her; Rory and Leah asleep together, a book resting on their thighs. Lorelai pushed away from the doorframe and went further into the room before stopping by the bed. She carefully removed the book from Leah's grasp and placed it on her nightstand before leaning down and making sure both girls were covered sufficiently by the duvet.

"Lorelai," Luke whispered from the doorway. He had been observing her for a few minutes.

"I was just tucking them in," she replied just as quietly. "It's been a while since I had to tuck Rory in," she said thoughtfully.

"I'll bet." He came to stand next to her in Leah's bedroom and looked down at the two girls asleep in the small bed. "You ready to go to bed?" he asked, stifling a yawn. Lorelai nodded and allowed him to lead her into their own room. She climbed under the covers and lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling. "Tired?" he asked quietly. Lorelai shrugged while turning her head to look at him.

"I'm in the mood for something else actually," she said, shuffling closer to him. Luke grinned and leaned down to capture her lips with his. His hands began roaming over her body, remembering every little curve as he traced it with his fingertips. He reached her still very flat stomach where his hand paused and he tentatively broke the kiss. "What?" she asked, feeling the moment slipping away from them.

"We can't," he said through heavy breaths.

"Why not?"

"Cause of the baby." Lorelai rolled her eyes.

"The baby's fine," she assured him.

"I don't know," he said uneasily.

"Luke, the baby is right about the size of a peanut right now. You can't hurt him or her."

"I don't wanna risk it."

"How about we take things slow?" she reasoned, playing with the hem of his t shirt. "I really want you," she whispered, sending shivers down his spine.

"Okay," he replied before sitting up to allow her to remove his t shirt. They quickly discarded their clothing before settling back down into the mattress, Luke hovering on top of her. Lorelai pulled on his shoulders, urging him down onto her, needing the skin on skin contact but Luke was stubborn.

"Luke," she whined, breaking their kiss briefly.

"What?"

"I wanna feel you on top of me," she said, her eyes pleading with him.

"I'll squash you," he protested.

"Hasn't stopped you before," she mumbled.

"I don't wanna hurt the baby."

"You won't." When she saw the look in his eye, a mixture of worry and doubt, she rolled them over so she was on top of him. "Better?" she asked.

"Definitely." They picked up where they left off, both following the 'taking it slow' rule as they did what they did best. As usual, sparks flew between them as the heat became intense and soon enough, Lorelai was collapsing onto her side of the bed. Luke turned onto his side and pulled her breathless form towards him, slinging an arm around her waist, resting his hand on her belly. "I love you," he whispered.

"Love you too," she replied sleepily. He watched her fall asleep in his arms, double checking she was actually asleep before doing what he wanted to do. He moved down so his face was next to her bare stomach and took a deep breath before beginning...

"Hey kid, I'm your dad," he whispered softly. "I don't know if you can hear me, hell I don't even know if there's just one of you, there could be two, or three..." He started an internal panic. Two babies was enough to send him into an early grave. Twins, he thought. God what a challenge. "Please let there be only one of you, this is gonna be enough of a challenge without you trying to outnumber us," he chuckled. "I can't wait till you start growing in there, mommy's gonna look ten times more beautiful when she's pregnant, I'm sure of that. I can't wait to meet you either, we're gonna love you so much, in fact we already do." He smiled to himself. "Okay so I'm gonna get some sleep now, I love you kid." He gently stoked Lorelai's stomach with his fingertips, revelling in the smooth feel of it. "Oh and I'm sorry if I freaked you out before with the...you know. It's just something that grownups do, hopefully you won't hear about it or do it yourself for thirty of forty years." He leaned down and left a feather light kiss on her belly before scooting back up towards the pillows and kissing his wife's forehead too.

The next stage of their life together was gonna be scary, but by god, he couldn't wait.

**Please review! I promise I won't abandon this story again, I think I'm back on track now and there's only a matter of days before all my college work is completed...YAY! Oh and can I just say that I really love the mobile site for FF, I'm always on it on my phone, it's so much better than the regular site...anyway, sorry for the rant :D**

**Emily.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry about the wait guys...I lost track of this story, I just couldn't write it for some reason. Anyway, this chapter's quite rubbish, cause it was rushed. It's short too but hopefully you'll like it to some extent. Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter :D**

"Okay so what are we making?" Luke asked as he looked through the kitchen cupboards.

"Cupcakes!" Lorelai squealed excitedly.

"No," Leah protested. "Cookies."

"But we always me cookies," Lorelai complained. "I want cupcakes, with olives on top," she said thoughtfully. "And ketchup." Leah scrunched her nose up in disgust, as did Luke.

"That's disgusting," the three year old told her grandmother.

"Sounds yummy right now," she said dreamily.

"How about we skip the cupcake part and you just have olives?" Luke suggested.

"We have olives?" she asked in surprise.

"Bought some especially for your crazy taste buds," he deadpanned.

"Aww you're the best husband in the world," she cooed. He smiled and reached into the fridge for the pot of olives he'd bought the previous day. He was surprised they were still in there actually. Usually she would have found them by now.

"Here," he said, handing them over to her. "Don't eat too many okay?"

"How many is too many?" she asked, already popping one into her mouth.

"When you start to feel like you're gonna throw up, you've eaten too many," he said pointedly. She shrugged.

"Throwing up is part of the package." She scrunched her nose up, shook her head then jumped up from the table. "Okay, not really liking olives at the moment," she called as she dashed to the bathroom.

"Where's grandma going?" Leah asked curiously. Luke frowned.

"Just stay here a minute okay? Why don't you find the mixing bowl and the other stuff we need to make the cookies?" he asked, thinking of something to keep her occupied while he checked on his wife.

"Can I choose which shapes I want?"

"Yeah sure sweetie," he replied distractedly. As he approached the bathroom, he could hear Lorelai retching. He winced a little, although he'd kinda gotten used to it, then slowly opened the door and stepped inside, closing it again behind him. He heard Lorelai's heavy breathing and felt the guilt again as he remembered that he was the cause of this. "How're you doing?" he asked softly, sitting on the floor behind her and pulling her hair back with his fingers.

"I've been better," she replied, leaning back into him a little bit.

"Was it the olives?" She nodded then heard him sigh. "Sorry."

"Wasn't your fault," she mumbled. "The baby decided it didn't want olives anymore, that's all." Luke kissed her hair.

"Do you think you're done now?" He felt her nod against his chest and gently pushed her forward so he could stand up. Once on his feet, he pulled her up and guided her back out to the kitchen.

"Grandma are you okay?" Leah asked worriedly, especially when she saw Lorelai's watery eyes.

"I'm fine honey," she replied brightly. "Just got a bit sick back there, nothing to worry about."

"Are you gonna help make the cookies?" she asked hopefully. Lorelai looked uneasily at Luke, he read her like an open book.

"Grandma's gonna go lie down for a while sweetie, why don't you and I make them?" Leah twisted her mouth before nodding in agreement. Lorelai smiled appreciatively at him before turning away from him to head upstairs. He pulled her back towards him and leaned in to kiss her.

"Uh...vomit breath," she reminded him.

"Don't care," he murmured before completing his task. He smiled at her then watched her walk towards the stairs, before turning back to his granddaughter, prepared to give her his full attention.

"I choosed Mickey Mouse shape," she said proudly, holding the dough cutter out to Luke.

"Very nice," he replied. "But I was thinking we could make cupcakes instead."

"But I want cookies," she whined.

"Don't you wanna do something nice for grandma cause she's not feeling well?" he asked, trying to get her to show some compassion. She looked at him sulkily for a few moments.

"Fine," she finally agreed.

"Cupcakes are better anyway cause you can lick the bowl properly," he winked.

"Mmm, I love cake mixture," she said excitedly. "Does this mean we get to use that thingy that mixes it all together?"

"Yeah, I'll let you do it if you want."

"Really?" He nodded.

"You've gotta be careful though," he warned.

"I will," Leah promised excitedly.

"Ok do you remember what we need to make these?" She went silent for a few minutes as she tried to remember how to make cupcakes.

"Flour?" she asked carefully.

"Yeah, what else?"

"Um...um...eggs?"

"And?"

"Errrrm..." He could see she was struggling so he helped her out a little.

"What do you put on your cereal in the mornings?" he asked.

"Um...milk," she answered.

"What else?" She thought hard.

"Oh I know, sugar!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Well done," he praised. "You're gonna be a proper chef one day."

"Like you?" she asked.

"I'm not a chef," he brushed off.

"Yeah you are, you're a really good cook," she said while nodding her head vigorously. He nodded briefly before collecting the ingredients they needed. "Grandpa?"

"Hmm," he replied as he measured the correct amount of flour.

"Why did grandma get sick?" Leah asked curiously. "She was okay before." Luke stopped what he was doing, not exactly sure of what to say. They hadn't told Leah about the baby yet, he, Lorelai and Rory had decided it'd be better if they told her when the risk of miscarriage had passed.

"She didn't like the olives," he replied simply.

"That's cause they're yucky."

"Yes they are, now are we gonna make these cupcakes for grandma?" Leah nodded and joined him over at the counter, standing on a chair so she could see.

"Wait, I need my apron," she exclaimed. "I'll get it all over my top."

"Drama queen," he muttered while reaching for her apron that hung from the back door handle. He tied it around her waist before going back to his previous task.

"Where's mommy?" she asked.

"She went to see Lane," he replied.

"With Kwon and Steve?"

"Yeah, your mom and Lane used to be best friends," he explained.

"Before she leaved?" Luke nodded awkwardly.

"Yeah, now that she's settled in, she's gone to catch up with her and to meet the twins."

"But I wanted to go," she pouted.

"I thought you wanted to make cupcakes with me and grandma."

"I didn't know she was going to see Kwon and Steve," she sulked. Luke rolled his eyes and continued preparing the cupcake mix.

XXX

"Hey," Lorelai greeted sleepily as she padded down the stairs later that day.

"Good morning," Luke joked, holding his arms out for her to walk into from where he sat on the couch. "Good nap?" She nodded.

"Great," she replied.

"So you feel better now?"

"Yeah, just one of those mornings," she said, smiling. "Where's Leah?"

"Sulking in her room," he answered.

"Why, what's wrong with her?"

"She said she wanted to go with Rory to see Lane and the kids."

"Ah...so she's upset?"

"No, just in a bad mood," he replied. "I chose to ignore her."

"Okay, I'll go up and talk to her in a minute." Luke pulled her down to sit in his lap and kissed her firmly. Just as they were getting into it though, a loud knock on the door jarred them from their activity.

"Who the hell is that?" Luke grumbled.

"I'll get rid of them, one second." She jumped up from his lap and hurried to the door. She wasn't expecting who she saw on the other side though.

"Lorelai...hi is um...is Rory here?"

"Logan," she replied in shock. She was speechless for a few moments before air finally made it's way back through her windpipe. "Rory's uh...not here, she's at Lane's," she told him nervously.

"Oh um...I guess I could come back later," he shrugged. As he was about to turn around, Luke appeared at Lorelai's side.

"Who is it?" he asked gruffly.

"It's Logan," she replied, she was gaining confidence now. And with that confidence came anger towards the man that abandoned her girls.

"What are you doing here?" Luke asked.

"I came to see Rory," he answered honestly.

"Well you weren't supposed to get here till this evening, we weren't expecting you yet."

"I know, I got an earlier flight," he explained. "But if Rory's not here then I'll just swing by later." He began to walk away but a small voice stopped him.

"What's going on?" Leah asked, hugging Lorelai's legs as she walked up behind her.

"Nothing sweetie," Lorelai replied. "Go back inside okay?"

"Who's that?" she whispered, pointing towards her unknown father. Logan had turned around and was staring at his daughter wordlessly. Lorelai and Luke shared a look before silently agreeing to tell her.

"I think you'd better come in," Luke addressed Logan before leading Lorelai and Leah into the house. Luke and Lorelai sat on the couch; Leah perched on Luke's lap, while Logan took a space on the armchair.

"Is that my daddy?" Leah asked quietly. She only wanted her grandparents to hear but Logan happened to be listening in as well.

"Yeah honey," Lorelai replied. "That's Logan, your dad." Leah looked over at Logan curiously before burying her face in Luke's shirt.

"Look, is Rory gonna be back soon?" Logan asked impatiently.

"Why?" Luke asked.

"I wanna talk to her," the young man shrugged.

"So the only reason you've come back is to see Rory?" Luke spat. He stopped himself from going further when he remembered Leah was sat right in front of him.

"Leah why don't you go upstairs?" Lorelai asked softly.

"Why?"

"We just wanna talk to Logan for a second okay?" Leah nodded hesitantly and shuffled off of Luke's lap. She ran towards the stairs and glanced at Logan wearily before ascending them. Once they were sure the little girl had gone into her room, Luke glared at Logan.

"You don't care about your daughter at all do you?" he asked angrily.

"What are you talking about man, I just asked where Rory was," Logan replied defensively.

"Yeah and the whole time your daughter was sat right in front of you, you didn't even say hello to her." Logan didn't say anything. "Why did you even come back if you don't care about her, she's just gonna get hurt."

"I never said I didn't care about her," he told them.

"Well if you did you wouldn't have left almost four years ago," Lorelai interrupted. Logan looked at his feet ashamedly.

"I regret that," he muttered.

"I should hope you do!" she shouted angrily, rising to her feet. "Do you know how much you hurt Rory? She cried non-stop for two whole weeks because of you. Pregnant women don't need that kind of stress, it's not good for them or their baby, but you didn't care did you?" She was fuming. All of her pent up anger and frustration towards Logan was finally being released.

"Lorelai..."

"No Logan, don't even attempt to explain this. There's no way you can make yourself look good here." She was breathing heavily and Luke stood up next to her, making sure she was okay. "Nobody hurts my kid like that, I mean, what were you thinking, abandoning your pregnant girlfriend? She was miserable after you left; I couldn't even get her to eat properly. You put your girlfriend and child at risk by leaving like that, but you're probably not even bothered are you?" Luke noticed how red in the face she was and slipped his arm around her waist. It really wasn't good for her, getting angry and stressed like this.

"Are you ok?" Luke asked quietly. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to will away the dizziness she was currently experiencing. "Lorelai?" She could hear the voices around her, but all of a sudden, everything went black.

**I know...I know, bad place to end it :S But my excuse is that it's 10:30pm and I'm exhausted...strange cause I usually stay up till at least midnight. Please leave a review :P I will try harder with this story and hopefully you should see an update soon. I apologise again for making you all wait so long.**

**Emily.**


	12. Chapter 12

**I didn't leave it as long as last time look! As I said in my other story; I'm in McDonald's using the wifi cause my internet at home is broken. So that's the reason I haven't posted this sooner. This chapter is extra long too, to make up for the shortness of the last one. Enjoy :D**

"Lorelai?" Luke called in a panic as she collapsed into him. He caught her in his arms and lowered her to the floor slowly. As he held the top half of her body up while her bottom half lay limp across the living room floor, he felt tears rising to the surface. He blinked them back though, this wasn't a time to cry, he had to be strong for his wife.

"Is she okay man?" Logan asked, almost as worried as Luke was. Luke ignored him though, solely focussing on Lorelai.

"Lorelai?" he asked again, quieter this time. He tapped the side of her face firmly in an attempt to bring her back into consciousness. He heard a faint noise come from her, before her eyes blinked open and she hazily took in her surroundings.

"Luke?" she whispered.

"You're okay, it's okay," he whispered, pulling her body closer to his. He was completely oblivious to Logan's presence for a few moments, he was just enjoying the moment with his drowsy wife.

"What happened?"

"You fainted," Luke informed her as he brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "We should probably get you to the hospital, are you okay to walk?" he asked softly.

"I'm fine," she said stubbornly, squirming out of his embrace and scrambling to her feet. She stumbled a little as a wave of dizziness rushed over her and quickly grabbed hold of the end of the couch to steady herself. Luke came to her aid but she batted his hand away. "I'm fine," she reassured him.

"No you're not, we're going to the hospital," he said sternly. He glanced at Logan, who had been standing there silently watching the interaction. He looked a little confused, probably wondering what had caused her to faint in the first place. "Would you uh...watch Leah while we go?" Luke asked wearily.

"Um..." Logan was taken aback, he hadn't even spoken to his kid yet and they wanted him to take care of her for god knows how long?

"We can't bring her with us," he explained. Logan nodded hesitantly and looked at Lorelai. Through her slightly disoriented expression, he could see worry in her eyes, probably over leaving her granddaughter with practically a stranger.

"Okay uh...what do I do with her?" he asked dumbly. Luke began leading Lorelai slowly towards the door.

"Just entertain her," Luke shrugged. "Ask what she wants to do."

"Okay and what about food and stuff?"

"She'll ask if she wants something, we should be back by dinner time."

"Right uh...good luck then...I guess," he said nervously. Luke nodded briefly.

"I'll just help Lorelai to the car then I'll tell Leah we're going out." Logan watched from the living room window as Luke attentively helped his wife to the car. Once she was in the passenger seat and had her seatbelt on, he jogged back up to the house and called up the stairs.

"What?" Leah asked as she came bounding down the stairs.

"Grandma and I are going out for a while, will you be okay staying here?" he asked. Leah looked over at Logan.

"With him?" she whispered, pointing to her father.

"Yeah," he replied cautiously. Leah shook her head insistently. "Why not?"

"I don't know him," she pouted, tears rising in her eyes.

"Hey it's okay," he soothed. He lifted her up and sat her on his hip. "We won't be gone long, I promise."

"Why can't I come too?"

"Cause kids aren't allowed where we're going, you have to stay home."

"But..." He saw a few tears slip from her eyes and roll down her cheeks.

"Come on, don't cry," he whispered, brushing her tears away with the tips of his fingers. "You'll be fine here, you can show Logan around the house and show him all your toys," he said enticingly. Leah hesitated before nodding slowly. "Okay?"

"Okay," she replied wearily.

"Good, we'll be back as soon as we can." He left a kiss on her forehead then placed her back on her feet. He cast a sidelong glance at Logan before turning on his heel and closing the front door behind him.

Leah turned to her father after the door had closed and stared at him silently. She cocked her head to the side and twisted her mouth as she watched him intently. Logan began to feel uncomfortable under her watchful eyes.

"What?" he asked, flinging him arms out to the side. Leah shrugged her shoulders before looking away and walking towards the stairs. "Where are you going?"

"To my room," she replied quietly, almost shyly. Logan decided to just let her go; she'd talk to him when she was ready. He just hoped it wouldn't be too long.

XXX

Lorelai situated herself on the hospital bed and laid back to get comfortable. Luke was standing by her side, glancing around at all the machines nervously and Lorelai grabbed his hand to calm him.

"It's okay," she assured him. "Stop worrying."

"It's just...the baby," he stuttered.

"The baby will be fine, just you wait and see." They went into a comforting silence then a couple of minutes later, a doctor entered the room with a nurse wheeling in an ultrasound machine.

"Hello Mr and Mrs Danes, I'm Doctor Carter," she greeted the couple. They exchanged pleasantries then the doctor got down to business. "Right, so I believe you fainted Mrs Danes?" she asked. Lorelai nodded. "And you're pregnant?"

"Yes."

"Do you know how far along you are?"

"Not exactly, I'd say it was about a week, week and a half," she replied indecisively.

"Okay well that's take a look and confirm that for you." The doctor grabbed a tube of gel then turned back to Lorelai. "Lift your shirt please," she said politely. "This might be a little cold."

"Been here before," Lorelai mumbled before she complied and allowed the cold gel to be spread over her abdomen. The doctor moved the wand around and a fuzzy black and white image appeared on the screen.

"Right, the baby looks to be in good shape," she observed. "No distress or abnormalities." Luke and Lorelai found them breathing sighs of relief, squeezing their joined hands. "Mrs Danes did you say you were only a week along?"

"Yeah I mean...we only started trying about two weeks ago." The doctor looked closer at the screen and narrowed her eyes in confusion.

"Is something wrong?" Luke asked, beginning to worry again.

"No Mr Danes, it seems the foetus is a little larger than expected." Luke looked down at Lorelai and frowned. "Is there a possibility that you could be farther along?" Lorelai looked down at her slimy stomach then back up to the doctor.

"Um...well we've slept together plenty of times in the past, but we were always safe," she replied, noticing Luke flinching as she talked openly about their sex life.

"When you say you were safe, do you mean you used a condom?" Lorelai nodded, while Luke turned red with embarrassment. "Well they are in fact only ninety seven percent effective," she informed the couple. Luke gaped at her.

"Ninety seven?" he asked in shock. "Are you serious?"

"Luke honey, calm down," Lorelai urged. He took a deep breath.

"I can't believe this, ninety seven percent? So the other three's just floating around somewhere waiting to knock someone up?"

"Mr Danes, there are a variety of reasons why a condom would be ineffective. It looks like you've been caught out by them." Luke was fuming, he had a good mind to call Trojan himself and complain. "It could be just be a simple matter of you removing the condom afterwards then climbing back into bed. There could have been some sneaky ones that found their way in there," she explained. Luke turned red again and Lorelai chuckled. "There is no way to tell." Before Luke could go off on another rant, Lorelai ended the conversation.

"So how far along am I?" she asked curiously. The doctor scanned the screen then smiled back at them.

"It's showing up as seven weeks on here," she replied. Lorelai didn't know what to say.

"How is that possible?" Luke asked. "She only just started with the morning sickness and the cravings within the last week."

"Well pregnancy affects different women in different ways," she explained. "Some women experience morning sickness from the beginning, others get further into the first trimester. Some women never get sick during their whole pregnancy."

"Lucky bastards," Lorelai muttered, causing Doctor Carter to chuckle.

"Lorelai," Luke scolded.

"What? You don't have to put up with it every day," she complained. He stroked his fingers over her hand and smiled sympathetically at her. He looked back up at the doctor questioningly.

"So she's almost two months along?" he asked, just to make sure he understood what was going on.

"Yes it seems that way," the doctor replied. "This means there are only five more weeks left of the first trimester, that's when the risk of miscarriage reduces considerably. With your age Mrs Danes, and with the fainting that occurred earlier today, I would suggest you take it easy for the next month or so. Get plenty of rest, don't be on your feet for too long and steer clear of stress, that's the last thing you want to be dealing with at the moment."

"So you're putting me on bed rest?" she asked, appalled by the idea.

"Not exactly; you can get up to complete simple tasks such as the laundry or the cooking, but for the majority of the time, you should be resting." Lorelai nodded thoughtfully.

"What about sex?" she asked eagerly. "Can we have sex still?"

"Lorelai!" Luke exclaimed, wishing she wasn't so confident with talking about things like that.

"What? I wanna know," she shrugged innocently. The doctor smiled at the couples antics.

"You may sleep together, but make sure you're not too rough with her," she said, directing it at Luke. He blushed furiously.

"Jeez," he complained, erupting giggles from Lorelai and Doctor Carter.

"That's a shy one you've got there," she pointed out to Lorelai.

"Yeah, he's a big softie when we're alone though," she cooed, cupping his cheek with her hand.

"Okay I just remembered I have other appointments," she said in realisation. "Now if you hang on a second I will find out your due date." She tapped at a few keys and the screen changed, bringing up a bunch of information. "April fifteenth," she told them.

"April fifteenth," Lorelai repeated. Luke smiled at her and squeezed her hand again.

"Right so we're all done here, I'll get the nurse to clean you up," she said before walking to the door. "Congratulations guys, I'll see you in around five weeks for your next check-up," she said happily. "And remember Mrs Danes, bed rest." Lorelai nodded with an added eye roll before the doctor left the room, leaving the couple by themselves.

"I told you the baby would be okay," she whispered to Luke, filling the silence of the white hospital room.

"I just can't help but worry sometimes," he shrugged. "You scared me."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"You know that you're not lifting a finger for the next nine months right?" he chuckled.

"Seven," she corrected. "There're only seven months left." Luke played with her fingers, twisting them around his.

"We just lost two months today," he murmured. "It's coming up faster than we think."

"This means we have to start shopping soon," she said softly. "I know how much you love shopping."

"I might just enjoy this type of shopping," he shrugged.

"Hey, if we go pick out paint colours then we can start decorating the nursery."

"We'll see okay? We have to get you through the first trimester first. There's no way you're going shopping anytime soon." Lorelai pouted. "No, the doctor said you need plenty of rest and that's what you're gonna get," he said sternly.

"I know," she replied huffily.

"Good, it's all for the baby," he reminded her. "It'll be worth it in the end." He leaned down and planted a kiss firmly on her lips.

"Of course it will," she replied as they disengaged. A nurse came into the room and interrupted their alone time so she could wipe away the gel from Lorelai's stomach and send them off home.

XXX

"Hello, anyone home?" Rory called as she walked through the foyer. She tossed her keys next to the phone then looked up to find a certain blonde haired man in her living room. "Logan," she gasped. She looked at her watch then back up to him, losing the ability to speak.

"Hey Ace," he said with a shy but cocky grin on his face. "Got an earlier flight," he stated, holding his arms out for her to walk into. She happily obliged and wrapped her arms around his neck. They embraced tightly for a few moments before Rory pulled away and smiled at him.

"I'm glad you're here," she said shyly. "How did you get in?"

"Your mom let me in, her and Luke had to go to the hospital."

"What? Why?" she asked, beginning to get frantic.

"Lorelai fainted," he said quietly. "One minute she was shouting at me, the next she'd blacked out."

"Oh my god, I hope the baby's okay," she said in worry.

"She's pregnant?" he asked. Rory nodded distractedly.

"Why didn't they call me?" she asked herself.

"They were probably too caught up thinking about the baby," he replied. "They'll be back soon, they've been gone a while now." Rory nodded, taking in the information. If something really bad had happened, Lorelai would have called her for sure, so the fact that she hadn't been informed was probably a good thing.

"So where's Leah?" she asked, glancing up the stairs.

"In her room," he sighed. "She hasn't been down since Luke and Lorelai left." Rory frowned.

"I'll go talk to her," she said decisively. Logan nodded and watched his Rory Gilmore ascend the stairs, that's if he could actually still call her his, he wasn't sure yet.

XXX

"Knock, knock," Rory said softly as she peeked her head into Leah's bedroom. "Can I come in?" Leah nodded wordlessly and Rory entered her room, falling to the floor next to her daughter. "What are you doing up here?"

"Playing," she shrugged. Rory furrowed her brow at Leah's monosyllables.

"Okay...why aren't you downstairs talking to your dad?" she asked, trying a different tactic. Leah looked up at her mother in surprise.

"I don't want to talk to him by myself," she said quietly, almost sadly. "Grandma and grandpa went somewhere and leaved me here with him, I wanted to go with them."

"Well they went to a grown up place," she brushed off. "That's why you had to stay here."

"That's what grandpa said." Rory twisted her mouth thoughtfully.

"Wanna go downstairs now, with me?" she asked carefully. "I bet you're thirsty," she said knowingly. Leah smiled sheepishly and nodded. "I knew it," she replied, poking Leah's stomach while she chuckled. "Come on, let's get some coke huh?"

"Nuh uh, orange juice," she argued as Rory lifted her up and carried her out of the room.

"Okay, orange juice for you," she corrected. She started down the stairs and Logan jumped up from the couch at the sound of footsteps. "Wait in here while I get your juice okay?" Rory whispered. Leah nodded slowly then jumped onto the couch and switched on the TV. "Want something to drink Logan?" she asked politely.

"Whatever you've got," he replied as he watched his blonde haired daughter giggle at some cartoon she was watching. It kinda made him smile; she was pretty cute after all. Rory nodded then walked into the kitchen, glancing back before she rounded the corner.

"So whatcha watching?" Logan asked, taking a seat on the couch. He noticed Leah shuffle away from him a bit on the couch, but didn't let it get to him.

"Dennis the Menace," she replied not taking her eyes off the TV.

"Hey I used to watch that when I was a kid." Leah glanced at him, nodded at his comment then looked away again. She giggled as Rory was coming back into the room with a tray of drinks.

"What's so funny sweetie?" she asked.

"Dennis the Menace," she replied, smiling up at her mom widely. "Ooh orange juice," she exclaimed. She took the plastic cup from the selection and brought it to her lips, downing the orange liquid quickly.

"Don't drink too fast," Rory warned as she slid in between her daughter and ex boyfriend. Leah nodded and set her cup on the coffee table.

"So uh...how've you been?" Logan asked hesitantly.

"Been okay," she replied while nodding her head slowly. "You?"

"Yeah I'm good, missed you a little bit."

"Just a little bit?" she asked in mock offense.

"Well..."

"Logan I'm kidding, chill out okay?" He inhaled deeply then flashed her his award-winning smile. Rory pulled Leah onto her lap, despite the little girl's squirming and protests.

"Logan can I ask you something?" Leah asked shyly, her bright blue eyes meeting his slightly darker ones.

"You just did," he joked. Leah cracked a small smile. "Go ahead, ask me anything."

"Is it warm in Califarnio?" she asked curiously.

"Califarnio?" he asked to make sure he'd heard her correctly. He'd never heard of that place. Leah nodded and he frowned.

"I think you mean California don't you sweetie?" Rory asked, understanding her meaning. Leah nodded again.

"That's what I said." Logan chuckled.

"Yes it is warm in California, boiling in fact," he answered her previous question.

"Is there famous people there?"

"Oh yeah, there's loads of them. It depends which part you live in, but they're scattered around." Leah nodded, as if she was processing his answer.

"Have you meeted any?" Logan looked down at the ground in thought but Rory took his action the wrong way.

"Leah, stop asking questions. I'm sure your dad doesn't wanna answer loads right now."

"No it's okay," he told her. "I was just thinking."

"See, he was thinking!" Leah said to Rory, sticking her tongue out to show she was right.

"Cheeky. I'll bite that tongue off next time you stick it out at me," she warned.

"Eww that's disgusting," she complained. She grinned at Rory then looked back at Logan. "Who did you meet?" she asked eagerly.

"I met Eva Longoria Parker," he shrugged, pretending it wasn't a big deal. Rory gasped.

"You did?" she asked excitedly. "Oh my god that's so cool!"

"Who's that?" Leah asked, not having a clue what they were talking about.

"She's from this TV show I watch," Rory told her. "She's really famous."

"Wow, can we go to California mommy?"

"We'll see okay? Maybe when you're a bit older." Leah nodded, obviously satisfied with that answer. She took her attention back to Logan and smiled shyly at him. Logan returned her gesture before focussing on Rory. She looked different somehow, older, wiser. Rory noticed him staring and furrowed her brows. "What?" she asked self-consciously.

"Nothing," he shrugged. "You just look...different is all."

"Good different?" she asked hopefully.

"Definitely good different," he replied causing her to blush uncontrollably. "You look beautiful," he added shyly.

"Do I look beautiful too?" Leah asked her father, not realising she just interrupted a romantic moment between her parents.

"Oh yeah, you're the most beautiful girl in the world," he told her, smiling for her benefit. Leah beamed at him happily.

"What about me?" Rory asked while pouting.

"You're the most beautiful woman in the world," he said, blushing himself.

"Why thank you," she replied. "Now what do we think of him Leah? Is he beautiful too?" Rory asked her daughter. Leah shook her head quickly.

"Hey!" Logan whined. "You've hurt my feelings now." He pretended to be sad.

"No cause boys can't be beautiful," Leah insisted. "Girls are beautiful and boys are handsome."

"So am I handsome?" he asked, nudging Leah's elbow. The little girl nodded her head with a huge smile on her face.

"Of course you are," Rory interrupted. "You're the most handsome man in the whole world, or maybe just in Connecticut," she said thoughtfully, earning a playful slap on the arm from Logan.

"That wasn't very nice," he told her.

"Yeah stop being mean to my daddy," Leah warned, pointing a finger towards her mother. Rory smiled at Logan as she addressed him as her father. She was just about to speak when they heard voices from the foyer. Both Leah and Rory jumped up from the couch and hurried over there, to find Luke carrying Lorelai into the house bridal style.

"I can walk Luke," Lorelai complained. "You don't have to carry me around like I'm an invalid."

"You're supposed to be on bed rest, you're not walking anywhere," he replied gruffly.

"I think I'm capable of walking into the living room."

"No." Luke stopped when he saw Rory and Leah standing in front of them. Lorelai's head snapped around and to find Rory with her hands on her hips.

"What's going on?" Rory asked, mostly in concern.

"Oh erm..." Lorelai glanced down at Leah then up to Rory, gesturing with her eyes that she didn't want to the little girl to know. "Put me down Luke," she ordered. Luke rolled his eyes but lowered her to her feet anyway, bracing his hands on her hips to hold her steady.

"Is everything ok?" Rory asked in concern, tilting her head towards her mother's stomach. Lorelai nodded with a smile on her face, assuring her daughter that things were how they should be.

"She's supposed to be on bed rest," Luke informed with his hands on his hips as he stared pointedly at Lorelai.

"Bed rest?" Rory asked, appalled by the idea.

"Yup," Lorelai confirmed dryly. "For the next five weeks I'm gonna be handcuffed to the bed so I can't move anywhere."

"Dirty," Rory added.

"Some things never change," Logan said while shaking his head. Lorelai narrowed her eyes at him but kept her mouth shut this time, only for the sake of her baby, and Leah of course.

"I'm just gonna perch on the couch for a while," Lorelai said nonchalantly, trying to escape Luke's grasp so she could go over there.

"Ah, ah, ah," he stopped her.

"What now dad?" she asked in annoyance.

"In order to be on bed rest, a bed is required," he pointed out. "You're going upstairs." Lorelai looked horrified.

"What? That is so unfair! I can rest on the couch, why are you making me go upstairs?" she whined.

"Because there are too many distractions down here, all of which could cause stress," he pointed out.

"But Luuuuke," she pouted.

"No," he said insistently. "You're going upstairs." Rory grinned as she watched the exchange between her mother and stepfather; they were just so adorable together, even when they were arguing.

"Fine." She started towards the stairs but Luke stopped her.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"Upstairs, like you told me to."

"Oh you don't think you're walking up there do you?" he chuckled. "Come on." He lifted her up again and took the first couple of steps.

"For Christ's sake," she mumbled. "I can walk up the damn steps."

"Hormones," Rory whispered to Logan.

"Just shut up and enjoy the ride," Luke muttered.

"Dirty!" Rory called up the stairs, earning a grunt from Luke. He walked into their bedroom and put her down on the bed gently, before taking in what she was wearing.

"Do you wanna stay in your jeans or would you prefer something more comfortable?" he asked, wanting to make sure she was as comfy as she could be.

"Something more comfy," she decided. Luke nodded and pulled a pair or sweatpants from her drawer, as well as his blue and green flannel. He walked back over to the bed and perched on the edge, reaching for the button of her jeans. "Luke we can't do that, there are people just downstairs."

"We're not doing...that," he said embarrassedly. "I was gonna help you get changed."

"I think I can change myself."

"I'm gonna help okay? You shouldn't be using too much energy." Lorelai sighed but fell back onto the bed in defeat. If her husband wanted to help her, she wasn't going to stop him. He was only looking out for her and their baby after all. After some struggling on Luke's part, he had successfully changed Lorelai into more comfortable clothes and had tucked her into bed.

"Thanks for being so great Luke, I don't know what I did to deserve a guy like you," she said softly. Luke chuckled and leaned down to kiss her on the lips.

"It's just the hormones talking," he replied. "Get some rest and I'll bring dinner up in a bit okay?" Lorelai nodded, even though she was less than happy about spending most of her time in bed.

"Send Rory up soon, I wanna fill her in on some stuff."

"I will, get some sleep." Lorelai nodded again while rolling her eyes. She got into a better position and buried her head in her pillow, closing her eyes. "Love you Crazy Lady," he mumbled, leaving another kiss on her forehead.

"Whatever Burger Boy," she replied back, not opening her eyes. She heard him chuckle then the door of her bedroom closed and she was left alone. This was gonna be one of the longest months of her life, she just hoped their baby would make it through.

**So everything's relatively okay **** please review and tell me what you thought! I will try my best to update this story as quickly as possible, it's tough having no internet though. That's all for now, see ya ;)**

**Emily.**


	13. Chapter 13

**I'm really sorry that this took so long :S I didn't mean to keep you waiting so long, I just couldn't think of what to include in this chapter. But here it is, my imagination finally kicked into gear and I produced this...hope you like it **

**Thanks for the reviews, I hope you haven't all lost interest in this cause of the long time gap.**

The month went by in a flurry of activity; Logan spent most of his time at the Crap Shack getting to know his daughter, and he was also getting reacquainted with his ex. He'd taken five weeks leave from work so he could be in Connecticut for a while, and had been staying at the Dragonfly so he was close to the girls. While it had been a nice month for the younger generations of Gilmores, it hadn't been all that great for Lorelai.

The bed rest had begun to annoy her the morning of day two, because Luke wouldn't let her go downstairs for breakfast. Instead he brought it up for her and sat with her while she ate it, which was nice in a way, but all she wanted to do was stretch her legs. So as the month drew to a close, and when Lorelai had marked off the last day on the calendar she'd been keeping on the nightstand, she was over the moon.

"Ah civilisation," she called excitedly as she entered the kitchen that morning. Rory was reading the paper at the table and Leah was picking grapes from the fruit bowl in the centre of the table, while Luke cooked something that smelt absolutely divine. His head snapped round quickly when he heard her voice.

"What are you doing downstairs?" he asked with a stern glare.

"Check your calendar babe, it's been exactly one month since the doctor told me I had to go on bed rest for four weeks," she announced. "I'm free!" Luke looked at her worriedly.

"Does that mean you can watch movies with us again?" Leah asked, still oblivious to Lorelai's pregnancy and her impending Aunt or Uncle.

"Yup," she answered happily. "First on the list is Willy Wonka."

"Yay!" cheered Rory.

"And does it mean you can come to the park with us?" Leah asked again. Lorelai nodded distractedly as she watched Luke, taking in the frown he wore and the worry in his blue eyes.

"Rory can you watch whatever Luke's cooking for a minute?" asked Lorelai. Both Luke and Rory's heads snapped round to look at her. "I just wanna talk to you for a sec, won't take long," she promised. Luke quickly agreed, leaving Rory to deal with breakfast.

"Um," she said once her mom and stepdad had left the room.

"What?" asked Leah, watching how Rory stared at the pancakes in front of her.

"Do you know what to do with these?" she questioned hopefully. She felt a bit inadequate asking her three year old daughter how to make pancakes, but she had absolutely no idea. "You watch grandpa do it all the time." Leah twisted her mouth thoughtfully as she came to stand next to her mother, trying to peer into the frying pan.

"You have to flip it in the air," she said gleefully. "Grandpa does it every time he makes pancakes." Rory narrowed her eyes at the pan, then lifted it from the burner and got a tight grip on it.

"You're sure?" she asked. When Leah nodded confidently in reply, Rory braced herself, then tossed the pan upwards as she kept hold of the handle, watching as the round pancake flew in the air. Four eyes watched it make it's ascent, but when it didn't return to the pan, both girls frowned.

"It's stuck to the roof!" exclaimed Leah, letting out a giggle.

"Uh oh."

"That's funny."

"I'm glad you think so," she chuckled. "Luke's gonna freak out."

"Stand on a chair to get it down," she suggested. Rory nodded and pulled a chair up below the fried batter. She grabbed a spatula and stepped onto the chair, reaching as far as she could to unstick it from the ceiling.

"Almost got it," she said, mainly to herself. As she plucked the last thread away, she felt the chair from underneath her collapse, sending her to the floor. She landed with an 'ouch' which soon turned to giggles when she saw that the pancake had landed on her daughter's head and was restricting her vision.

"Mommy there's a pancake on my head!" she exclaimed, as a pout resided on her face. Rory laughed harder as she grasped Leah's waist and pulled her towards her.

"Come here, daughter of mine," she said softly as she pulled Leah so she was on top of her.

"Get it off," she whined.

"Okay, calm down," she giggled. She plucked the pancake from Leah's head and smiled wanly at her, while Leah just pouted. "Funny girl," said Rory, touching a finger to her daughter's nose.

"That wasn't funny," she protested as she attempted to scramble off of Rory.

"Hey where are you going?" she asked.

"To tell grandpa what you did," she said as she got to her feet and stuck her tongue out at her. Rory gasped exaggeratedly.

"You wouldn't."

"Watch me," she giggled as she raced out of the kitchen.

XXXX

"Hey, I don't know if you've met Rory, but she's not the best person to be watching the pancakes right now," said Luke as Lorelai dragged him into the living room.

"She'll be fine," she assured him. "Now, sit down." Luke rolled his eyes but seated himself in the recliner that he'd claimed as his. Lorelai plopped down onto his lap and began playing with the buttons on his shirt.

"What are you doing?" he asked, referring to her choice of seat.

"I wanna talk to you," she replied. Luke nodded, giving her the go-ahead. "Okay, so I know you're worried about the baby and I, but we're fine," she told him. Luke cast his eyes away from hers and focussed on the floor.

"You sure?" he asked quietly.

"Positive," she said with a nod.

"But, how do you know the baby's okay?" he questioned worriedly. "You don't know what's going on in there." He pointed to her stomach and Lorelai reached a hand up to cup his scruffy jaw, running her thumb across his cheek.

"I think the morning sickness I experienced this morning was enough indication that the baby's alright," she grinned.

"I thought that had calmed down a little," he said.

"It did in the last week or so," she shrugged. "I think the baby was excited that he gets to see more than just our room, he needs some movement."

"He?" he asked with a smile. "You think it's a boy?" Lorelai shrugged.

"Just an inkling," she told him. "I'm not completely sure." She looked up at him and smiled happily. "Which do you want?"

"Any is fine by me," he said nonchalantly. "I mean, there are a lot of girls in this house, I guess it'd be nice if we had a boy," he said thoughtfully. "I'm kinda outnumbered."

"Just a little," she giggled. "But you love girls," she pointed out.

"I love my three Gilmore girls," he corrected her. Lorelai smiled at the fact that he'd included Rory, he'd been warming up to her in the last few weeks, and the two had made a lot of process.

"And you'd love our girl."

"I thought we were having a boy," he said confusedly. Lorelai shook her head.

"I just told you, I don't know for certain that it is a boy, could be a girl." Luke nodded.

"So which would you prefer?"

"I love girls," she told him.

"Can I have that in writing? I never pinned you as one for coming out of the closet." Lorelai slapped his chest playfully.

"I am not a lesbian, Luke," she warned while she grinned at him. "I meant, that I loved raising Rory, and Leah. We had a lot in common cause we could talk about makeup and shoes," she smiled. "I don't know anything about little boys."

"We'd learn," he told her. They sat in a thoughtful silence for a few moments before Lorelai spoke up again.

"I made an appointment with the OBGYN," she told him. "I got a slot this afternoon at two."

"Okay, well come by the diner on your way there and I'll come with you."

"You don't have to."

"I want to," he assured her. Lorelai smiled happily.

"So I'm in the second trimester now," she said thoughtfully. "We're out of the danger zone."

"Good," he sighed with relief. "All I kept thinking about was the baby's health," he admitted. "That's why I wouldn't let you move anywhere, I was so worried." Lorelai leaned into him and rested her head against his shoulder.

"I knew why you were treating me like I was gonna snap in half, and I'm grateful that you were looking after me so well." She sighed. "I was just being stubborn."

"Tell me about it," he chuckled. "We've argued more in the past month than we have the entire time we've been married." Lorelai grinned into his shirt.

"I know what you're gonna say next," she mumbled. Luke rubbed her back teasingly.

"It was the hormones," he said, proving her prediction right.

"There's nothing wrong with my hormones," she sulked, trying to pull away from him.

"Come here, Crazy Lady," he said as he pulled her back to him and pressed his lips to hers. Lorelai complied and parted her lips, giving him access. Luke's hand instinctively went to her stomach, where his fingers stroked her cotton covered belly softly. She hadn't started to show just yet, and that worried Luke, even though Lorelai told him it was normal.

"Grandpa!" Leah called as she ran into the living room. "Mom...ewww!" Luke and Lorelai pulled away from each other and smiled at Leah. "Why do you always kiss?" she asked with her nose scrunched up.

"What's up Leah?" asked Luke, trying to change the subject. Leah stared at him for a moment before she remembered what she'd come to tell him.

"Mommy tried to flip the pancake but it got stuck to the roof," she told him seriously. Lorelai giggled while Luke rolled his eyes.

"I knew it was a bad idea leaving her to watch them," he mumbled.

"We got it down, and then it landed on my head," she said sulkily. Lorelai scrambled off of Luke's lap and scooped Leah up into her arms.

"Poor baby," she cooed.

"I'm not a baby," she protested.

"You'll always be a baby to me." Leah frowned as the three of them went back in the kitchen, where Luke proceeded to make a new batch of pancakes.

XXXX

"Hi daddy!" Leah greeted excitedly as she threw the door open at lunchtime. She jumped up into his arms, and Logan caught her, pulling her to his body.

"Hey kid, you ready to go?"

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"That'd be telling wouldn't it?" Leah pouted. "Wait and see, okay?"

"Hi Logan," said Rory shyly as she appeared in the doorway. She had been becoming more and more nervous around him as the weeks went by, and she wasn't sure what his intentions were exactly, besides getting to know Leah of course.

"Hey Ace, you okay?" She nodded in reply.

"Why do you call mommy, Ace?" asked Leah as her arms circled around Logan's neck.

"It's just a nickname I gave her in college," he shrugged.

"Can I have a nickname?"

"We'll have to think of one won't we?" Leah nodded enthusiastically.

"Hey, so have fun today sweetie, okay?" Rory asked as she held Leah's backpack out to Logan.

"Do you wanna come with us?" he asked, hoping she'd say yes.

"Um, well I'm not ready," she answered, gesturing to her sweatpants and matching top.

"We can wait," he shrugged. "Right Leah?"

"Yeah, come with us mommy, please?" Rory grinned at her.

"Okay, I'll come," she gave in. "Where are we going?"

"Daddy says it's a surprise."

"Well it's a good job I love surprises then," she chuckled as she sauntered off to her room. Her stomach was full of butterflies in anticipation of their day out, who knew what the day would bring?

XXXX

"Hello Lorelai, Luke," greeted Doctor Carter jollily.

"Hi," replied Lorelai as she settled on the table.

"So how was your bed rest?" Lorelai glared at Luke.

"Pretty boring," she replied. "He wouldn't even let me shower by myself."

"The fathers can be a little overprotective sometimes," she chuckled. "They're always looking out for you and the baby though, remember that." Luke grinned smugly at her. "So shall we take a look at Baby Danes then?"

"Try and stop us," answered Lorelai as she lifted her shirt up. The gel was applied and the wand found it's way to her stomach, as the black and white image appeared on the screen. They both sighed with relief when the heartbeat could be heard loud and clear.

"Strong heartbeat," said Doctor Carter. She examined the image on the screen before nodding thoughtfully.

"Something wrong?" asked Luke, wondering why she had paused for so long. She turned to the couple with a smile.

"Everything is absolutely fine," she told them. Luke and Lorelai smiled happily at each other, and Luke squeezed her hand tightly. "The baby looks to be developing normally," she said, tracing the outline of the fetus with her finger. They watched their baby in awe as the heartbeat pumped through their ears.

"That's great," said Lorelai, suddenly overcome with emotion.

"And the best news is that you're out of the red zone," she told them. "The risk of miscarriage has reduced majorly, and I would say that it's safe to tell people now." Lorelai smiled.

"I can tell Leah," she said excitedly. The doctor looked at her questioningly. "She's our granddaughter," she explained. "She's only three so I didn't wanna tell her in case something happened."

"She'll be excited," Doctor Carter said. Luke nodded and smiled softly.

"Can you tell whether it's a boy or a girl from that?" he asked curiously. The doctor examined the screen.

"I'd say it's still a little early to tell," she answered. "Sometimes you can find out at twelve weeks, but I'd give it another month/month and a half maybe," she said. "Before you leave, book an appointment for six weeks from now, we should hopefully be able to tell then, unless the baby is shy."

"No chance of that," scoffed Luke. "Not with Lorelai as a mother." Lorelai batted his arm.

"You like me for my quirkiness." Luke smiled at her as the doctor watched them banter.

"Would you like a printout?" she asked. The couple agreed and they were soon on their way home, Lorelai admiring the picture joyfully as Luke drove back to Stars Hollow.

XXXX

"Here we are," announced Logan as he pulled up in a parking lot. Leah unfastened her safety belt and pressed her face up against the window, her eyes lighting up when she saw a playground.

"We're at the park," she said happily.

"This is your surprise?" asked Rory with a quirked eyebrow.

"There's more," he replied as he winked at her. They climbed out of Logan's Jaguar and he let Leah out, before moving round to the trunk. He opened it and pulled out a picnic basket and a mat, before locking the car and leading them towards the swings.

"A picnic," Rory gushed as they watched Leah run off towards the climbing frame.

"I thought it'd be nice," he shrugged.

"It is," she assured him.

"I'm not sure I brought enough for three of us, especially since you're involved." Rory slapped his arm.

"I don't eat that much," she scolded.

"Sure," he chuckled. "Is here good?" Rory looked around at the stretch of grass, with the playground nearby so they could watch their daughter.

"Perfect," she agreed. She helped Logan set the mat down, then plopped down onto it and watched him pull food from the basket.

"Okay we got peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, lunchables, pop tarts, apples, grapes, snowballs, cherry pie, and a whole variety of candy bars." Rory watched in awe as he pulled item after item from the hamper, more than looking forward to eating it.

"This looks great Logan," she told him.

"I thought it'd be a nice thing to do, for Leah," he shrugged as he turned his attention to their daughter, who was climbing dangerously high on the frame. "Leah, come down from there, it's dangerous," he called. Rory smiled to herself at how much he cared for the girl, and how far they'd come in the past month.

"Is it time for lunch?" she asked hopefully.

"Sure is," he replied. Leah grinned and fell onto the mat, eyeing the sandwiches longingly. "You want a PB and J?"

"Yes please." He passed a sandwich to Leah, then to Rory, and watched as the girls tucked into them greedily.

"What, have you not eaten at all today?" he asked, referring to the way they were devouring them.

"I'm starved," shrugged Leah with a mouthful of food.

"Well there's plenty of food, take what you want." The three of them ate their lunch as they laughed, bantered and talked. Rory and Logan were easily falling back into their old ways, and both found it easy to talk to the other. Leah watched her parents with a smile, hoping that maybe, just maybe, they would work things out and get back together.

XXXX

"Will you push me on the swings, daddy?" Leah asked after she'd polished off her last bite of food.

"You want any more food?" asked Rory, just to make sure her daughter was full. Leah shook her head and looked over to Logan pleadingly.

"If you're sure you've had enough food, I'll push you on the swings," he allowed. Leah bounced to her feet and grabbed Logan's hand, dragging him towards the swings. "I'll be back," he said to Rory before he allowed his daughter to pull him away.

"Higher!" she ordered as she held on tightly.

"You sure you're holding on tight?" he asked.

"Yeah, go higher," she answered. Logan pushed the swing a little harder, sending Leah higher into the air. She giggled as she swung back and forth, causing Logan to grin at how adorable she was.

"More higher," she demanded.

"No," he said sternly. "That's high enough, maybe when you're a little older." Leah pouted but went back to enjoying herself on the swings.

Rory watched from the mat on the sidelines as the father and daughter bonded. She watched her daughter's face as she enjoyed herself, and overheard Logan when he told her that she wasn't allowed to go any higher. She liked seeing them so comfortable with each other, it was like they'd never been apart.

XXXX

"You ready to go?" Logan asked Rory a little while later. Leah had been on everything in the playground, and was getting a little restless.

"Sure," she replied. The adults packed the stuff up and prepared to go back to the car. "You getting sleepy honey?" she asked as she ran her hand over her daughter's hair. Leah nodded and let out a big yawn.

"Come here," said Logan as he held his arms out to her. Leah allowed him to lift her up, then rested her head against his shoulder. "You okay to carry this?" he asked, gesturing to the picnic basket. Rory nodded, and they made their way to the car, Leah managing to fall asleep on Logan's shoulder along the way.

"She's out," Rory whispered.

"I think I exhausted all her energy," he chuckled as he fished his keys from his pocket. He unlocked the car and swung the door open, settling his daughter carefully in her car seat. After she was fastened in safely, he helped Rory load their stuff into the trunk of the car, then opened the passenger side door for her to help her in.

"Thanks," she murmured shyly. That was just one of the romantic things Logan used to do when they were a couple. They drove back to Stars Hollow, mostly in silence, except for the odd comment in the way of conversation. Logan pulled up in the driveway of the Crap Shack, and saw that both the Jeep and the truck were missing.

"Is everyone out?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think mom had a doctor's appointment," she replied. They got out of the car, and Logan retrieved Leah from the backseat, being careful not to wake her. He followed Rory up to the house, and walked through the door, immediately heading for Leah's room on the first floor. Rory followed him, and watched as he laid the little girl on her bed and covered her with the duvet.

"See you soon," he whispered before leaving a kiss on her forehead. Rory smiled again as she watched him. "What?" he asked, unsure of why she was looking at him like she was.

"Nothing," she said while she shook her head. "It's just nice seeing the two of you together." Logan blushed slightly.

"She's a great kid," he murmured. Rory nodded in agreement, kissed Leah on the cheek, then led him out of the room and down the stairs. "I should get going," he said. "I need to get in touch with work and let them know that I'll definitely be back next week."

"Oh," said Rory, somewhat disappointedly. "You're leaving then?"

"Only for a little while," he assured her. "I'm gonna work things out back in California, then see how I can make this whole thing with Leah work."

"Okay," she said. "But you'll visit again soon, right?"

"Of course, I can't stay away for that long," he chuckled. "Until things get sorted out, I can come by on weekends."

"That sounds good," she replied happily. "Um...I mean, Leah would like that," she saved herself. She didn't want him knowing that her feelings for him were slowly building up again.

"I'm sure she would," he agreed. They seemed to have stopped on the front porch, and were facing each other. Rory dared to look up into his eyes, and was met with an intense gaze, one that reminded her of when they were a couple. She suddenly noticed that Logan was moving towards her, and his proximity was getting closer and closer. But she didn't try to stop him, she didn't want to, she wanted to see where he was taking this, and feel what it would be like to have his lips on hers again. "I love you, Rory," he muttered, before his lips sought out hers and they shared a soft, gentle kiss. Rory pulled away and looked up into his eyes again.

"I...I mean, I think...I love you too," she replied hesitantly. Her lips broke into a smile, as did his, and he pulled her towards him again. And there they were standing, making out like teenagers on the front porch of the Crap Shack, neither caring that they had an audience.

**So what did you think? I think I like it, but do you? Please review anyway, it will make my weekend, seeing as I'm at work both Saturday and Sunday. Bye for now.**

**Emily.**


	14. Chapter 14

**I really enjoyed writing the last chapter, so I decided to write another **** thank you to everyone that reviewed the last addition, I really loved hearing from you all again! Enjoy this...**

"Logan," Rory whispered as she tore her lips away from his and rested her forehead against his. They were both breathing heavily as they recovered from their long, intense kiss, and their breath mingled together as it was released. "I don't want you to leave next week," she told him quietly, ashamedly. She didn't want to be the one to stop him from leaving; he had to go back to his job.

"I don't wanna leave," he admitted. "But I have to sort things out at the company, I might be able to work from here, and keep in touch with them."

"What if you can't, or they won't let you?" she asked.

"Then I'll quit," he said seriously. She pulled completely away from him and looked at him incredulously.

"You can't quit," she said in exasperation. "You have a great job, you don't just go in there and quit!"

"Well what else can I do? I wanna be here, in Connecticut," he said desperately. "I don't wanna at the other side of the country."

"We made it work when you went to London," she reminded him.

"But that was temporary," he reminded her. "I was coming back remember? And there wasn't a child involved that time, I can't live across the country and have a relationship with my daughter as well." Rory looked at the floor.

"You can't quit," she murmured. "You love your job."

"I know I do, but I love my family more." Rory kept her gaze fixed on the floor as a few tears rolled down her cheeks. Logan noticed and immediately pulled her in for a comforting hug. "Hey," he whispered soothingly. "What're the tears for, huh?" Rory sniffled.

"I want you here," she said sadly. "I want us to be a proper family, but I'm torn between wanting it, and feeling guilty about making you move out east. I haven't even thought about moving out to California."

"It's not an option for you to move, Ace," he told her. "You have too much to stick around for here, and I know you'd never leave your mom, especially now that she's pregnant. It wouldn't be good to move Leah to a whole other state anyway, especially so far away." Rory nodded into his shirt. "And you know, California's not really a kid friendly place, the sun's a killer when you forget the sun screen," he chuckled. Rory let out a small laugh, and pulled back to look up at him.

"I don't wanna move," she mumbled. "This is my home, and Leah's."

"I know," he nodded, as he wiped her remaining tears away with his thumbs. "That's why I'm gonna sort this out, I could get a transfer, there're branches all over the country," he said, mapping it out in his head. "There's one in New Haven, I could commute to New Haven every day, it's not that far." Rory nodded along, as long as he was near them, that's all that mattered.

"Where would you live?" she asked.

"I'll buy a house," he said simply. "In Stars Hollow, if you like?"

"As long as it's close, I don't care where you live," she replied.

"Well...I thought you'd be living there with me," he said hesitantly.

"Oh..."

"It's okay if you don't want to, I'll understand," he assured her.

"No, Logan, it's not that," she said, while shaking her head. "It's just, well, we just kissed like five minutes ago, I think it's too soon to be talking about moving in together."

"You need time," he stated, he should have known that would be the case. This was Rory Gilmore he was talking about now, of course she'd need time, she was the queen of pro-con lists.

"Just a little, is that okay with you?" she asked, to make sure.

"Of course, take all the time you need," he allowed. Rory smiled softly, her tears long forgotten.

"You're a great guy, you know that Logan Huntzberger?" she told him.

"You'd have to thank a certain young woman for that, she gave me a shove in the right direction," he chuckled.

"Who would that be then? I'd like to meet her."

"Oh I think you're pretty familiar with her already," he muttered before leaning in to kiss her again. This kiss was considerably shorter than the last one, but it wasn't lacking in satisfaction. Logan was the first to pull away this time, and he pushed Rory's body away from him, grasping her waist firmly. "I should go," he told her, an edge of disappointment in his voice.

"Why?" she asked with a pout.

"I need to get in touch with work, and sort some stuff out," he said. "I'll drop by tomorrow," he promised.

"Okay, same time?" she asked hopefully.

"Sounds perfect," he agreed before releasing her completely and giving her a small wave as he walked to his car. She watched him pull away, then turned on her heel and walked into the house, going over the last fifteen minutes in her head. It was just like old times.

XXXX

Once they were back at the Crap Shack, Luke got out of the Jeep and went around to Lorelai's side to help her out.

"Let me see that," Luke demanded, holding his hand out towards the sonogram image. "You've been hogging it all the way back from the hospital."

"I have not been hogging it," she replied in mock disbelief. "You were driving; you couldn't possibly have looked at it if you wanted to."

"I'm not driving now," he pointed out, his arm still held out towards her. Lorelai grinned and gave him the black and white image, before moving in next to him and linking her arm through his. "It's...wow," he muttered, not quite believing that this was his baby, their baby.

"I know," she agreed, smiling down at the picture.

"I mean, you can see the shape of it," he said in awe. "The head, the body, the legs, the arms," he listed. "They're all there." Lorelai nodded.

"Yup, now it all goes downhill," she said.

"What do you mean?" he asked, his brow knit in confusion.

"Well, any day now I'm gonna start showing, and then my boobs are gonna swell up..."

"How's that a bad thing exactly?" he interrupted her, smirking at the thought of his wife's body getting even more beautiful.

"Well...they're not really the bad parts, I mean, I get to go shopping, so that's a plus. I hope they do trendy maternity clothes, I don't wanna look fat _and _badly dressed," she shuddered.

"You look good in anything," he assured her.

"Mr Sweet Talker," she mumbled, reaching up to squeeze his cheek between her fingers. "Just wait till my ankles swell up so I can't wear boots, or heels," she said sadly. "And my back hurts all the time, and my feet hurt all the time, and I have a headache all the time..."

"Okay, I get it," he said, once again cutting her off. "I understand that this isn't exactly gonna be comfortable for you, but I'll help in any way I can," he offered.

"Really?" she asked, her eyes gleaming. When Luke nodded, she immediately thought up things she'd want him to do. "Will you give me a foot rub when I get home from a long, tiring day at work?" she asked.

"Sure," he answered as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him from the side.

"Will you give me a massage when my back hurts?"

"Absolutely."

"Will you run to the store in the middle of the night for pickles, because I ate them all before I went to bed?" she asked, thinking up a random situation. Luke thought about it for a moment, but ended up nodding along anyway.

"I'll do anything for you," he told her softly. "And our baby." He reached his arm further around her, and stroked her stomach with the tips of his fingers.

"Ooh I have a good one," she said, breaking through the intimacy they were sharing. "When I'm all horny in my fourth month, will you have sex with me over and over again until my craving is fulfilled?" Luke rolled his eyes, but who was he to deny his pregnant wife anything?

"What kinda guy would say no to that?" he asked, that smirk returning to his face. Lorelai loved that smirk.

"Come here, Lover boy," she murmured before pulling him down for a sweet kiss. She smiled against his lips, and felt him do the same. They both pulled away, grinning like idiots. "I love you Lucas Danes."

"You have no idea," he muttered, before holding the image up for both of them to see again. They both stared at it in silence, neither actually acknowledging that they were still standing outside next to the car. That was until they heard the thick, raspy voice of their neighbour, it was close by too.

"Whatcha got there, sugars?" asked Babette as she stood just a few feet away.

"Oh, nothing," replied Lorelai cheerily as she grabbed the image from Luke's hand and shoved it into her purse; being careful not to bend it of course. She looked up at their neighbour and smiled nervously. Babette eyed them suspiciously for a few moments, before looking over at the Crap Shack.

"You've been gone a while," she observed. Luke rolled his eyes and strolled up to the house.

"I'm gonna start dinner," he announced as he walked away. Lorelai watched after him, scowling at his retreating form, before taking her attention back to her neighbour and smiling politely.

"Been anywhere nice?" Babette inquired. She could usually get more out of Lorelai than she could from Luke. "We haven't seen you around for a couple of weeks; we were starting to wonder what was going on."

"Yeah, um, I was, um, sick," she told her, trying to lie through her teeth. "I had that damn flu."

"For a whole month?" asked Babette incredulously. Lorelai nodded, hoping she was convincing enough.

"Yup, horrible thing wouldn't leave," she said quickly. "We just went to the pharmacy to get a prescription."

"I didn't even see you come outside to get the mail," she carried on. Lorelai didn't know if she was going to stop asking questions any time soon.

"Luke wouldn't let me out of bed until he was sure I was okay again," she explained. "You know how Luke can be, he gets a little overprotective sometimes." Babette nodded.

"Yeah he's a sweetie, that Luke," she agreed. "You're a lucky girl." Lorelai chuckled.

"Don't I know it?"

"Yeah, so Rory had a boy at the house today," she informed, causing Lorelai's head to shoot up. She knew Logan had been round earlier to pick Leah up, and that Rory had gone out for the day with them, but he'd been round again? Maybe Babette just meant that he dropped the girls off at home.

"Oh yeah?"

"Hmm, that Logan kid, handsome as anything," she gushed. "And that little darling granddaughter of yours looks just like him, his dazzling hair colour, Rory's shining eyes, oh she's such a beautiful creation." Lorelai found herself smiling proudly, her granddaughter was extremely pretty, she had to admit.

"So did Logan just drop the girls off home?" she asked curiously. She wanted the scoop, and what better place to get it than gossip central?

"Well Leah was asleep, so he carried her inside, I'm guessing he probably put her to bed," she assumed. "Then Rory and Logan came out to the porch, and he looked like his was leaving," she continued. "Then the next thing I know, they're kissin', right there for the entire world to see!" Lorelai's mouth dropped open momentarily, and she looked towards the house. She had grown to tolerate Logan again in the past couple of weeks; he'd been round the house a lot to see Leah, and he'd often stopped by her bedroom to say hello.

"They were kissing on the porch?" Lorelai asked. Babette nodded eagerly.

"Not anything innocent either, it was a 'take me now' kinda kiss, in fact, there were a few." Lorelai looked towards the house again, desperate to get in there and talk to her daughter.

"Look Babette, I have to go," she said apologetically. "I'll see you later."

"Bye doll," she called. The elder woman turned around and headed back towards her house slowly. Flu my ass, she thought as she climbed her porch steps. She'd caught a glimpse of that photo before Lorelai had hastily stuffed it into her purse, and she knew full well what it was. She needed to call Patty, this was big.

XXXX

"Lorelai, can you go upstairs and wake Leah?" Luke called from the kitchen. "Dinner's almost ready."

"Sure," she called as she redirected towards the stairs. She entered Leah's room, to find her granddaughter sprawled across the bed with the sheets tangled around her. "Leah, honey," she said softly, stroking the girl's hair away from her face.

"Mmm," she replied sleepily.

"It's dinner time, you hungry?" Leah nodded, her eyes still closed. "Come on, it smells really good." Leah's eyes flickered open, but she had no intention of moving. "Do I have to carry you?" she asked jokingly. When Leah nodded, Lorelai rolled her eyes but lifted the girl into her arms anyway. "Lazy girl," she murmured as she padded down the stairs.

"Hey sweetie," greeted Rory as Lorelai entered the kitchen. She pulled out a chair and sat Leah on it, then pushed it in so she could reach the table. Leah rubbed her eyes tiredly with fisted hands, then smiled up at her mother. "Still tired?" she asked.

"Yeah," she replied with a heavy sigh.

"I made your favourite," said Luke. "Macaroni and cheese." Leah grinned and brightened up a little.

"With extra cheese?" she asked hopefully.

"Just for you," he said as he drained the pasta and mixed it with the cheese sauce. Lorelai took a seat opposite Rory at the table, and stared at her wordlessly. Rory noticed and caught her gaze, furrowing her brows at her mother's behaviour. Lorelai simply arched an eyebrow then took her attention to the meal that Luke had just set in front of her.

"Looks good," said Rory as they all tucked in. Rory kept glancing at her mother, noticing that she was quiet and avoiding her gaze. "So, how did the appointment with the doctor go?" Rory asked, wanting to know about her little brother or sister, and hopefully see a picture.

"It was great," replied Luke, while Lorelai remained staring down at her macaroni and cheese as she shovelled it into her mouth.

"What did you go to see the doctor for?" Leah asked curiously.

"Oh, um..." Luke looked to Lorelai for help on the subject, and she nodded at him in agreement.

"Well hon, grandpa and I, we're having a baby," she said, wanting to get it out as quickly as possible. Leah looked down at her plate thoughtfully for a moment, before looking up again and smiling slightly.

"Can I play with it, and help you look after it?" she asked.

"Of course," replied Luke.

"Yeah, you can change all the diapers," said Lorelai. Leah scrunched her nose up.

"Eww," she whined. "I'm not doing that."

"You don't have to," assured Luke. "That's our job." Leah smiled further.

"Where's the baby now?" she asked.

"Um, in here," Lorelai answered, patting her stomach.

"Do you have to keep it warm until it's ready to hatch?" Leah asked, thinking of the way a chick is born.

"Something like that," she replied, nodding along. Leah sat back in her chair and had another mouthful of pasta.

"So are you happy about this?" Luke asked, just wanting to make sure. Leah nodded enthusiastically.

"I can't wait," she said excitedly. The husband and wife shared a pleased smile, while Rory sat there, wondering why her mother had been shooting her weird glares since they'd sat down to eat dinner.

XXXX

"So," said Lorelai as she leaned against the doorframe to Rory's room after the washing up had been done. "A little birdie told me I'd left some mistletoe on the porch," she said. Rory's head snapped up to look at her, and she immediately knew what her mother was referring to.

"Um..."

"Babette saw you necking with Logan on the porch earlier, was she seeing things correctly?" Rory nodded nervously. "Oh cause, you know, Babette makes mistakes sometimes, her sight's not that good."

"I was kissing Logan," Rory clarified, "On the porch." This time, Lorelai nodded.

"He's um...he's leaving next week," she reminded her daughter.

"I know." Lorelai entered the room and sat down on the bed so she was facing Rory.

"You know, and yet, you still kissed him?"

"He wants to be here, with me and Leah," she told her.

"He has a life in California Ror, over at the other side of the continent."

"He's gonna talk to the head of the company, and sort something out so he can live here," she explained.

"It's not gonna be that easy though Rory, he can't just pack up and leave." Rory looked at her mom angrily.

"Why can't you just be happy for me?" she asked. "Why do you always have to think of the negative things and throw them all at me? Logan wants us to be a family, him, me and Leah."

"I...I just don't want you to get hurt," she said sadly. "You were hurting when he left for London all those years ago, and when he left you when you were pregnant, I don't want him to leave you again, not now there's a kid involved."

"He's not gonna leave," she said. "He wants a proper relationship with Leah, and he wants us to start up again, he's not going anywhere." Lorelai nodded.

"I'm gonna need that in writing," she said light-heartedly. Rory chuckled slightly.

"I won't let him hurt me again, and I definitely won't let him hurt Leah," she assured her mother. "But he really is here to stay." Lorelai waited a few moments before replying.

"Okay, then we'll have to wait and see what happens with the company then won't we?" Rory nodded and leaned towards Lorelai for a hug. "Was it a good kiss?" she asked while they enveloped each other.

"Great kiss," she emphasised. They pulled away from each other and grinned.

"Why the porch?" she asked. "Surely you knew Babette would see you."

"I knew it was Babette," she said through gritted teeth. "Can't escape that damn woman."

"Well we do live next door to her," she pointed out. "I'm glad you're happy though, it's all I ever wanted for you."

"I know, I'm extremely happy," Rory sighed. "Oh, I wanna see my little brother or sister," she exclaimed. Lorelai's eyes lit up at the mention of her impending baby.

"I've got the sonogram in my purse, I'll go get it." Lorelai returned to the room not twenty seconds later, and dropped onto the bed excitedly. "Here." Rory took the image and smiled down at it, already excited to meet the new addition to their family.

"Aww, I'm so happy for you, mom," she gushed. "You're finally getting your middle."

"You bet I am," she chuckled.

"So, what are we thinking?" she asked. "Boy? Girl?" Lorelai looked up thoughtfully, before smiling at her eldest.

"I think boy," she said. "It's nagging at me for some reason, I keep thinking about a mini flannel and backwards baseball cap combo," she giggled.

"That'd be so cute, a mini-Luke!"

"I know, and I think Luke really wants a boy too," she said. "I mean, he told me he isn't bothered, but he secretly wants a male around the house, I think he's a little overwhelmed by all the girls around here."

"We do outnumber him," she said thoughtfully. Lorelai shrugged. "So you think boy."

"Yeah, every time I see something blue, it's...I don't know, I just get this feeling," she said, unable to describe it.

"I think I know what you mean," agreed Rory. "I kept getting that with Leah, although mine was for blue things too," she frowned. Lorelai shrugged.

"Leah's favourite colour is blue," she pointed out.

"That's true." Lorelai grinned.

"So I'm either having a boy, or a girl whose favourite colour is blue," she concluded. "Huh, that's gonna bug me now."

"Well only another couple of weeks and you can find out, right?"

"Six weeks," she corrected. "And I don't know if I wanna find out, I kinda like the idea of it being a surprise."

"Talk to Luke," she suggested. "I'm sure you can come to an agreement." Lorelai nodded.

"I'll do just that." The girls smiled at each other again.

"So Leah took it well," said Rory.

"Yeah, better than I thought," Lorelai agreed. "The diaper thing was funny."

"God, I can't imagine Leah changing a diaper, it'd be like thirty years too soon," she giggled.

"Yeah, weird imagery," said Lorelai with a shake of her head.

"Mom?" asked Rory once they'd sobered.

"Yeah kid?"

"It's good to see you happy," she said. Lorelai smiled, tearing up a little at her daughter's words. She was more than happy, everything was falling into place, and she couldn't wait to meet her and Luke's creation.

**So? Please review! And if you haven't read my new chapter of IJMYN, do that too! Thanks guys.**

**Emily.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hi readers.**

**It's been two months since I updated this...I'm sorry :/ I have it all planned out though, and there are only five more chapters of this left. Remember when I was saying it would only be three or four chapters long, haha, look how that turned out. **

**Thanks for the reviews, it's nice to know that even though I'm a crappy updater, there are still people interested in this.**

**Enjoy.**

"You didn't have to drive me to the airport, you know," said Logan as they approached the security gate.

"I did," replied Rory quietly; she really didn't want him to go.

"Yeah we did," Leah agreed. "Cause we have to say goodbye then watch you walk away, like in the movies." Logan chuckled.

"You watch too many movies, Leah."

"Grandma's fault," she exclaimed. Logan bent down and lifted Leah under her arms, holding her out in front of him.

"I'm gonna miss you Little Ace," he said softly. That was his new nickname for her; it was linked to Rory's.

"I'll miss you too daddy," she whispered sadly, reaching her arms forward to wrap them around his neck. He kissed the top of her head and hugged her tightly, while slinging his carry on bag further onto his shoulder.

"I'll call when I get there, okay?" Leah pulled away and sniffled, nodding her head in reply. "Don't cry sweetheart, I'll be back before you know it," he told her as he wiped her tears away.

"I hope so."

"I know so," he assured her. He gave her another kiss, then set her back on her feet, as she proceeded to hug his leg tightly. He took his attention to Rory, who had been standing there silently, letting the father and daughter say their goodbyes. She now realised it was her turn. "I love you, Ace," he said, a small trace of a smile on his lips. Rory stepped forward and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, the way Leah had done just a couple of minutes earlier.

"I love you too," she said into his ear. "Call all the time."

"I will, how does every fifteen minutes sound to you?" he said jokingly.

"Not often enough," she answered with a smile. "Have a safe trip."

"Don't change your mind about me while I'm gone, okay?"

"Like I could," she returned. The loudspeaker announced that the flight to California was now boarding, and Logan inhaled deeply.

"This is it," he stated. Rory nodded, looking down at Leah who was still squeezing Logan's leg.

"Call the minute you know about your job, promise?"

"I promise," he swore. "Take good care of her." They both looked down at their little girl, and Logan stroked her hair gently. "Love you, Leah," he told her.

"Love you, daddy," she replied, squeezing his leg even tighter, if it were possible.

"Love you, mommy," he said teasingly. Rory grinned through the tears that had filled her eyes.

"Love you too, daddy," she mumbled before crashing her lips against his. She kissed him like it was the last time she ever would, and in a way it was true. She didn't know when she would next get to see him; it could be next week, or next month. "You'd better go."

"Yeah," he sighed. He reluctantly pulled away from her and bent down to Leah's level again. "Kiss before I go?" She kissed him on the lips, and he looked up at Rory. "Do I get one from you too?" Rory smiled and replied by giving him a brief peck. "Bye Ace and Little Ace, see you soon." He waved then turned around and joined the queue at security.

Rory lifted up Leah and sat her on her hip as they watched their man walk away from them.

"Daddy!" called Leah, waving to get his attention. Logan turned back to look at her, waving in return.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Don't forget me." Logan shook his head.

"Impossible," he replied, before he waved to them again. This time, it really was goodbye because it was his turn to go through the security gate. They watched him walk out of view, then Leah looked at her mother.

"What does impossible mean?" she asked curiously.

"It means that he'll never be able to forget you," she said as they began to walk towards the exit, Leah still in Rory's arms.

"I like that answer," said Leah thoughtfully, resting her head on Rory's shoulder. "You'll never leave will you mommy?"

"Nope, looks like you're stuck with me." That put a smile on the little girl's face.

XXXX

"Hey, what are you doing home so early?" Lorelai asked her husband as she walked into the kitchen at the house late that afternoon. She'd seen his truck in the driveway, and thought it was an irregular occurrence; he usually didn't get home until six.

"I know Logan left today, and I thought I'd make the girls a nice dinner to cheer them up a little bit." Lorelai smiled at his thoughtfulness and wrapped her arms around him from behind as he attended to some sauce on the stove.

"Such an amazing guy," she gushed, resting her cheek against his back. "With such amazing food, what is this?"

"Chicken breasts in tomato and basil sauce," he replied. "I was gonna make white wine sauce, but I had to actually put wine in it and I didn't know if it'd be bad for the baby."

"Hmm, I guess it'd be okay to use for cooking, but better to be safe than sorry, right?"

"My thoughts exactly," he agreed. "Here, try some." He held a wooden spoon filled with red sauce out to her, and she eagerly put her lips around it.

"My god that's good," she complimented after she'd swallowed it. "You're a genius."

"I wouldn't go that far," he said modestly. He turned to stove down so the sauce could simmer, then swung around and wrapped his arms around his wife's waist. "How was your day?"

"Good," she said with a nod, resting her hands on his chest. "Michel was bugging me earlier but there's nothing new there."

"Want me to kick his ass?" he asked caringly.

"It's very sweet of you to offer, but it's just Michel," she shrugged. "He was created to annoy people." Luke chuckled and brought his hands round from her back to her stomach.

"And how's Squirt?"

"Okay today, thank you for asking," she said sweetly. Luke began drawing circles with his hands over her tummy, but stopped when he noticed a slight bulge. "What's the matter?" she asked, realising he had stopped what he was doing. He lifted her blouse with his hands and admired her now slightly rounded stomach. "We can't do that in the kitchen," she told him, thinking that he was trying it on with her.

"Lorelai," he warned her, as he brought his hands to her belly again.

"What?" she asked.

"Feel." He took hold of one of her hands and placed it over where the bump was, moving it up and down for her. Her frown turned into a dazzling smile as she realised what had taken him by surprise.

"He's growing," she whispered happily, mesmerized by the bulge of her stomach.

"He?" questioned Luke. Lorelai shrugged her shoulders.

"I think it's a boy," she told him.

"How can you tell?"

"I don't know, just little things I guess. I walked by Stars Hollow Baby the other day and there was this little blue outfit in the window..." she trailed off.

"And it stood out to you?" he filled in for her.

"Yeah, exactly," she grinned. "And then Sookie made these cupcakes today with pink frosting, and they made me nauseous."

"How many did you eat?"

"Five," she admitted quietly.

"Probably why you were nauseous," he said logically. "The colour had absolutely nothing to do with it."

"It did, I swear, and when we find out we're having a boy, I'll laugh in your face." With that she flew out of the room, pulling her blouse back down as she went.

Luke watched her walk away from him and chuckled to himself, pregnancy was definitely making her crazier.

XXXX

After dinner, Leah was sitting by the phone waiting for it to ring.

"It won't do anything if you keep staring at it," said Lorelai, her feet propped up on the coffee table as she watched some TV show.

"Will too," she argued. "Daddy said he'd call when he got to Califarnio."

"California," Lorelai corrected.

"That's what I said." Lorelai arched an eyebrow at her before taking her attention back to the television.

"Leah, are you still sitting there?" Rory asked as she came out of her room.

"I'm waiting for daddy to call," she replied.

"He might be getting settled in, give him chance."

Just then, the phone rang. Leah's face lit up and she reached for it, but Rory managed to pick it up before her.

"Hey!" shouted Leah frustratedly. Rory put her finger over her mouth to shush her then turned around and walked towards her room.

"Hi Logan, yeah it's me," she said, very happy to hear from him.

"I wanna speak to daddy," whined Leah, who had followed her into her bedroom.

"Hang on a second, Leah's bugging me." Logan chuckled on the other line and listened to Rory as she addressed their daughter. "You can talk to him in a minute, can I at least say hello first?" she asked pleadingly.

"You already said hello," she pointed out.

"Leah, please," she said firmly. "I wanna talk to him as much as you do, you know." Leah pouted and crossed her arms over her chest as she settled on the bed next to her mother. "I'm back," she told him through the receiver.

"Hey, is she eager to talk to me or something?"

"Yeah, she's been waiting by the phone for you to call," she replied. "Did you have a good flight?"

"Yup, no major events or anything," he said. "I watched a movie, had a beer," he told her.

"Sounds like the perfect flight," she said. "I'm glad you got there okay."

"What can I say? I'm indestructible," he joked. Rory giggled then looked down at her impatient daughter.

"Hey, I'll let you talk to Leah for a little while," she said. "She's dying to hear from you."

"Okay, put her on, I wanna talk to you again before you put the phone down though."

"Of course," she agreed before passing the phone to Leah. The girl pushed it to her ear hastily and grinned.

"Hi daddy," she greeted enthusiastically.

"Hey Little Ace," he replied, the smile evident in his voice. "I heard you were sitting by the phone waiting for me to call."

"Yup, I thought you forgetted," she said.

"Didn't I tell you that it's impossible to forget you?" he asked. Leah's smile lit up a few notches.

"I know what that means!" she exclaimed. "It means that you will never, never, ever forget me," she said proudly.

"Wow, you get smarter by the second, sweet pea."

"I know, and I don't even go to school yet," she grinned.

"You know, I think we should just send you off to college already."

"No," she protested.

"Why not? College is cool," he said enticingly.

"But then I won't live with mommy anymore, I'd be far away," she pouted. "I always want to stay with you and mommy."

"So you're never gonna go to college, huh?"

"Only if mommies and daddies can come to college too," she answered. Logan laughed, as did Rory who had gotten the gist of the conversation from Leah's side. There was silence for a moment or two, before Leah asked a question. "How long till you come back?"

"I don't know yet," he answered honestly. "I'll find out tomorrow though, and then I'll call you tomorrow night to tell you, how does that sound?"

"Good," she replied. "I hope it's not ages."

"Me too, Little Ace," he agreed quietly. "Can I speak to your mom now?"

"Okay, talk to you tomorrow," she said. "Love you."

"Love you too." Leah passed the phone back to her mother.

"He wants to talk to you, I'm gonna go watch TV." And with that she was out of the room. Rory pressed the phone against her ear and lay back on her bed.

"It's me again," she informed him.

"I miss you like crazy already, you know," he told her.

"I know the feeling," she agreed. "It feels like so much longer than just a couple of hours."

"Tell me about it, my apartment feels so lonely now," he sighed.

"I wish you didn't have to be there," she admitted.

"Well like I just told Leah; I'm gonna talk to my boss tomorrow and I'll find out from there when I can move over there with you," he said. "I'll call you as soon as I know."

"Okay, I just hate that we're so far apart."

"And you think I don't?"

"I know," she assured him. "I can't wait to see you again."

"Same here, I love you," he said softly.

"Love you too, don't become a stranger."

"Impossible," he said before hanging up. Rory held the phone to her chest and smiled sadly, all the while wishing that Logan was there with her.

XXXX

"I miss daddy," said Leah sadly as Rory tucked her into bed that night.

"I know honey," she replied as she ran her hand over Leah's hair.

"I don't like it when he goes far away; I like it when he's here." Rory sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I know exactly how you feel," she said, thinking back to when Christopher used to come in and out of their lives.

"Where's your daddy?" she asked curiously. "Cause grandpa's not your daddy, is he?"

"No he's not," she admitted, he never would be, no matter how hard she wished for it.

"So where is he then?"

"I...I don't know," she said slowly, just realising now that she had no idea where her father was.

"Did he leave you and never come back?" Rory looked down at her innocent little daughter, and internally debated whether or not she should tell her about the wrath that is Christopher.

"Let me tell you the story, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed.

"When my mommy and daddy were younger, they loved each other very much, and they put their love together to make me," she began. "But my daddy wasn't ready to take care of a little baby yet, so he went away for a while."

"Why did he mix his love with grandmas' if he didn't want a baby?" she asked innocently.

"Uh...that's a whole other story," she brushed off.

"Tell me now," she pleaded. Rory sighed; no way was she getting into this with her three year old kid.

"Okay, all you need to know is that my daddy's love didn't mean to get mixed with grandmas', it was an accident," she clarified. "So my daddy left grandma and me for a while, but he came back every couple of months, sometimes a little longer apart."

"Why didn't he wanna be with you?"

"I don't know, honey," she said sadly. "I never knew why he didn't wanna come around, and when he did visit, I never understood why he left." Leah noticed that Rory was becoming sad over thinking about her father.

"Does he make you sad?" she asked.

"He did," she answered. "Not any more though, I haven't seen him since before you were born."

"Why?"

"Something happened, about five or six years ago," she began. "It involved my daddy, and grandma and grandpa...anyway, after that I never talked to him again."

"Did you have a fight?" Rory twisted her mouth thoughtfully.

"Yeah, we did. And I haven't forgiven him for it." Leah looked down at her duvet before looking back up to her mother.

"Do you think my daddy's gonna come back?" she asked. After hearing Rory's story about how her father had left her, Leah was frightened that her dad was gonna do the same.

"Of course he is," she jumped in quickly. "What made you think otherwise?"

"You said that your daddy left, so I thought mine could too," she shrugged.

"Leah, sweetie, your daddy is never gonna leave you, he loves you," she said firmly. Leah nodded to show she understood then the curiosity crept back into her eyes again.

"Did your mommy and daddy get married?" she asked tentatively. Rory inhaled deeply before shaking her head slowly.

"No, they didn't," she replied. Leah frowned.

"Do you think you and daddy will get married?" Rory was stunned into silence; she hadn't even thought about marrying Logan. Yes they had a kid together, and they had known each other since college, but they had spent so much time apart, and they only reconciled a mere week ago. It was too early to be thinking about that step.

"Whoa, look at the time," she said, trying to change the subject. "It's time you went to sleep." She stood up and began tucking the covers around Leah again; just the way she liked them. She kissed her on the forehead and smiled down at her. "Goodnight sweetie." Leah frowned as Rory turned around and began to walk towards the door.

"Mommy?" she asked hesitantly.

"Hmm?"

"You didn't answer my question." Rory sighed and turned back to face her, her hand over the light switch.

"That's because I don't know the answer yet," she replied honestly. "Now get some sleep." She cut the light off and left the door open slightly. When she was in her room, she collapsed on the bed and put her hands over her eyes. She had some serious thinking to do.

**I will try to update this quicker so I can get it completed, but I get so sidetracked it's unbelievable. **

**Anyway please review, I want to know if you're still interested!**

**Emily.**


	16. Chapter 16

**So if you've already read the new chapter for my other story, you'll know that my internet has been broken and I haven't been able to update, I apologise and I am so glad it is fixed now.**

**Thanks for the reviews!**

The next evening, the phone rang, as promised. Leah bounded towards it and picked it up eagerly, pressing it to her ear.

"Hi daddy," she said happily into the receiver.

"Hey...how did you know it was me?"

"You said you'd call tonight, so I was waiting," she answered sheepishly.

"You haven't been sitting by the phone again have you?" he teased.

"No, I was sitting on the couch," she corrected him. "Do you know when you can come back?" Logan took a deep breath; he wanted to tell Rory before he told Leah.

"Could you put your mom on for a second?" he asked, abruptly changing the subject. Leah pouted into the phone.

"But I wanna know," she whined.

"You will know, I just wanna talk to her for a bit," he assured her. "Please?" he added. There was a short silence on the line where Leah was determined to stand her ground, but she ended up giving in.

"Fine," she agreed, less than happy about it. Not three seconds later, he could hear Rory's voice on the other line.

"Hi," she greeted him, a huge smile sitting on her lips as she spoke to him.

"Hey Ace, how are you?"

"I'm good, missing a certain person though," she teased.

"Really? Then we're in the same boat," he chuckled. "So I found out when I can come back to Stars Hollow," he told her, wanting to get it out in the open.

"Oh yeah, is it soon?" she asked eagerly. She hoped it was soon. Logan winced, though Rory couldn't see it.

"Eight weeks," he sighed. He waited for her reaction, but she was just silent. "Ace?"

"Hmm...oh well can't you get here sooner than that?" she asked hopefully. "I mean, that's like two months, and two months is a really long time. I don't know if I can be apart from you for that long," she frowned.

"I'll try and visit as much as I can," he assured her. "I can probably make it every other weekend." Rory felt sad at the fact they had to wait two months to properly start their family together, she was thinking more along the lines of two weeks.

"I know there's nothing you can do about it," she sighed. "Do you wanna tell Leah or should I?"

"I'll tell her, put her on." Ror

"I'll try and visit as much as I can," he assured her. "I can probably make it every other weekend." Rory felt sad at the fact they had to wait two months to properly start their family together, she was thinking more along the lines of two weeks.

"I know there's nothing you can do about it," she sighed. "Do you wanna tell Leah or should I?"

"I'll tell her, put her on." Rory called Leah over and handed her the phone.

"Daddy wants to tell you something." Leah's eyes lit up at the fact that she was gonna finally find out how long she had to wait till her father moved to Connecticut .

"How long?" she asked as she pressed the phone to her ear. She was jumping on the spot a little, and Rory felt bad that she'd have to wait so long. She watched her daughter's face fall immediately as soon as Logan announced when he'd be able to make it, and she looked like she was gonna cry.

"Come here," Rory whispered, pulling Leah into her lap and wrapping her arms around her. She took the phone from her. "Hey, she's a little upset right now," she informed him, holding her daughter close to her as she sniffled. Lorelai appeared in the doorway to Rory's room, and when she noticed her granddaughter was crying, she gave Rory a quizzical look. Rory shook her head and gestured towards Leah, silently asking her mother to take her.

"Come on hon," Lorelai said softly as she pried Leah from Rory's arms. She settled her against her and hugged her tightly, as she took her into the living room. "Hey, what did your dad say?" she asked as she sat down on the couch.

"Two months," came the muffled reply.

"Two months till he comes back?" she asked cautiously. Leah nodded against Lorelai's shirt, and burst into another round of tears. "Aw baby, it's okay," she soothed as she rubbed her back. "I'm sure he'll come and visit." Luke came clunking down the stairs at that moment, and Lorelai looked up to give him a sad smile.

"What's wrong?" he asked quietly as he took a seat next to them on the couch. Leah looked up at him and frowned, before crawling off Lorelai's lap and into his. He immediately wrapped his arms around her and she buried her face in his shirt.

"Logan can't come back from California for another two months," she whispered to him. Luke shook his head angrily; he knew Logan would end up hurting his granddaughter sooner or later.

"I knew something like this was gonna happen," he hissed back at her. "I knew it'd all end in tears."

"Babe, he is coming back," she told him. "He just can't leave his job yet." Luke clenched his teeth to refrain from cursing in front of the three year old he was currently comforting. One of his main objectives the last three years was to make sure that little girl was safe, happy and well fed, but at the moment he was failing on the happy part, and it killed him to see her so upset.

"Come on Leah, what do you say we make some cookies, huh?" The girl nodded and pulled away to smile sadly at him. Well, at least he got some kind of a smile out of her.

XXXX

Rory knocked on Leah's door a little later that evening, to find her curled up in bed with Colonel Clucker and a pop-up book.

"Hey, are you feeling better now?" she asked caringly as she made her way over to the bed. She sat down on the edge of it and smiled down at her little girl.

"A little bit," Leah mumbled in reply.

"He said he's gonna come and visit, you know," she told her. "You'll see him before the two months are up." Leah nodded and sighed heavily.

"I wish he could live here now," she said sadly. "I miss him."

"I know, and it's only been a day and half," she chuckled. "Maybe, just maybe we could take a trip to California sometime," she suggested, causing Leah's eyes to light up.

"Really?" she asked, beginning to get excited.

"I said maybe, we'll have to see what your dad says," she said. "Now are you gonna get some sleep, Missy?"

"I'm not tired," she shrugged.

"You should be, and you're going to sleep now," she told her sternly. She took the book from Leah and set it on her nightstand, before tucking Colonel Clucker down next to her and arranging the duvet cover the way Leah liked it.

"Night mommy," she murmured.

"Goodnight angel," she replied, dropping a kiss on Leah's lips. She smoothed her hair back, then made her way over to the door, cutting the light off as she went. When she was standing outside her daughter's room, and the door was closed to behind her, she leaned against the wall and thought about the situation they were in with Logan.

She didn't expect that it would take him so long to make it back to Connecticut, but now that it was happening, she was less than happy about it. She wanted to start a proper relationship with him as soon as possible. Yes they had kissed plenty in the week before Logan departed, and they'd talked an awful lot when Leah wasn't around. But they hadn't gotten the chance to take it to the next level, and that was what she really wanted to work on. Now she'd just have to be patient.

XXXX

Luke and Lorelai were watching some movie on TV downstairs. Luke was sprawled out on the couch with Lorelai huddled close to him, both enjoying the peace and quiet. Luke's hand had been absent-mindedly stroking over her stomach, revelling in the feel of her expanding bump. Lorelai in turn, loved the attention he had been giving to her belly recently.

"How have you been today?" Luke asked tentatively, always thinking of his wife's needs before his own.

"Surprisingly good actually," she replied, tilting her head up so they were face to face.

"Yeah, and squirt's not been giving you any hassle?" He rubbed a large circle over her bump to emphasise his words.

"Not really, the morning sickness has calmed down a lot," she assured him. "You know what I really fancy right now though?"

"What?" He dreaded to think. She hadn't had many cravings as of yet, but he knew they were just waiting around the corner ready to pounce.

"Pickles and peanut butter," she said decisively. Luke rolled his eyes.

"That's disgusting," he grimaced.

"Sounds so scrummy right now," she said dreamily. "Please can I have some?"

"We don't have pickles, or peanut butter," he pointed out. Lorelai pouted as she looked at him. "...But I guess I could run to Doose's and get some," he finished. Lorelai smiled brightly and leaned in to kiss her wonderful husband.

"You know, I'm actually craving something else right now," she said seductively, as she placed her hand halfway up his thigh. She leaned in to kiss him again, the pickles and peanut butter seemingly forgotten as she began moving her hand further up his thigh.

"Okay, please go upstairs now before you scar me for life," ordered Rory as she came down the stairs from Leah's room. Lorelai giggled as she moved off of Luke and stood up, holding her hand out to him.

"Come on Lover Boy, it's getting late," she said as she began to guide him towards the stairs.

"I need to find my ear plugs," muttered Rory, turning towards her room and disappearing inside. Luke was a bright shade of red when Lorelai looked back at him, and she had to laugh.

"Hurry, I don't know how much longer my craving can wait," she told him before running up the stairs. He didn't need telling twice, and he ran after her, closing the bedroom door behind them. The rest is history.

**There's only three chapters left of this story...how sad! I seriously can't wait till it's done with though, it'll be a weight off my mind.**

**Please leave a review, I seem to have lost readers for this...probably cause it takes me so long to update.**

**Bye for now.**

**Emily.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello.**

**It's been ages again, I know. I keep losing track of this story, I'm sorry. Thanks for the reviews and for everyone that's still reading. I promise I will TRY to update this again soon, I actually really enjoyed writing this chapter!**

**Enjoy reading it...**

Rory climbed out of bed and pulled on her gown, before leaving her room and heading straight for the mailbox. Once she'd retrieved the numerous letters and flyers, she went back inside and sat at the kitchen table to sift through it all.

"Luke Danes, Luke Danes, Lorelai Danes, Luke Danes again..." She stopped when she came across a plain white envelope with her name and address hand-written across the front. It was quite a thin envelope, and didn't seem to have much in it, but Rory could recognise that handwriting anywhere. Without a second thought, she ripped it open and pulled out a folded piece of paper. As she unfolded it, two rectangular pieces of card fell out and landed on the table, and Rory didn't even have to look at them to know what they were.

Plane tickets, to California.

She opened the letter and scanned the text, smiling as she read each individual word.

_Hey Ace, _

_So I thought you could bring the Little Ace out West to see me, check the dates, hope you can come. _

_Love Logan. _

_PS. Don't forget the sun screen._

She smiled softly as she finished the note. Could she really go to California and take Leah with her? She wanted to, that's for sure, but that didn't matter. What did matter was that she'd have to do whatever was best for her daughter, and she knew she'd have to consult Lorelai on this.

XXXX

"Mom," Rory said as she knocked on the door. Lorelai was still sleeping, and Rory was kinda afraid to wake her up. The hormones had been a bit out of whack lately, and Lorelai had been coming out with all sorts of weird things.

"Humph," she complained, digging her head further into her pillow. Rory rolled her eyes and went further into the room, climbing onto Luke's side of the bed. "What do you want?" she asked tiredly.

"I have to talk to you about something."

"Tell me later."

"It's important," she argued.

"So important that it can't wait till sunrise?" she questioned.

"Mom, it's eight thirty, the sun has risen already." Lorelai turned over and rubbed her eyes, before giving Rory her full attention.

"Okay, what is it?"

"I got this this morning," she said, holding out the envelope.

"What is it?"

"Open it and see," she pushed. Lorelai sat up in bed and pulled the letter out of the envelope. Immediately, the two tickets fell and landed in her lap. She looked down at them, and stared at the text for ages, taking in what she was seeing.

"Tickets to California," she finally said.

"Yup."

"From Logan?"

"He's the only person I know that lives there," she replied. Lorelai nodded and looked more closely at the tickets.

"There're two."

"Yeah, one for Leah too, he wants her to go with me." She looked at her mother nervously. "Do you think it'd be okay to take her to the other side of the country? I mean it's only for five days, I have the return tickets, but it's so far and I don't think she's ever travelled that far before, has she?" Lorelai shook her head.

"She's never been on a plane before either," she told her. Rory looked down at the bedcovers and sighed.

"Would you mind if I took her with me? I mean, she loves Logan and I did tell her I might take her to California sometime, I think she'd really like it..."

"Rory," interrupted Lorelai, cutting right through the babbling. "I know Luke and I raised Leah these past three years, but you're back, and you've spent so much time with her. She loves you, you're her mother and as much as it hurts me to say this, you have to make the decisions for her, not me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she confirmed. "I'll just have to get used to it." Rory nodded.

"So you don't mind if I take her to California?"

"No, I don't mind. Just as long as you take real good care of her, don't let her bake in the sun," she warned.

"I won't, Logan already reminded me about the sun screen."

And it was a done deal; Rory and Leah were going to California, in exactly three days time.

XXXX

"So you don't wanna know the sex, huh?" Lorelai asked after they'd come out of their doctors appointment. The doctor had told them that she could tell them right there and then what they were having, but Luke had quickly refused and said he'd rather wait until the baby's born to find out.

"Do you?" he questioned. He hadn't really asked her what she thought, but she hadn't protested when he said no so he assumed she was okay with it being a surprise.

"I'm not fussed," she shrugged. "I mean, it would be nice to find out if we're having a Bruce or a Sheila, but it's also kinda nice that we're keeping it as a surprise."

"We are not naming our child Bruce or Sheila," he protested. "We're not Australian."

"I wasn't suggesting..."

"Cut it out, we'll look in the baby books Sookie gave us."

"Fine, I have some great ideas though," she winked. Luke was immediately dreading whatever she was thinking in that crazy head of hers.

XXXX

"You're sure you have everything you need?" Lorelai asked for the fifth time since they set off from the house. It was obvious that she was worried about their impromptu trip to the other side of the country.

"Yes mom, we've got everything," replied Rory patiently. She knew this was a big step for her mother; letting the girl she had spent three years raising travel across the country with somebody else. Team that up with the hormones and she was fast becoming an emotional wreck.

"Okay, well, have a really, really great time," she said as she pulled Rory into a hug. She then picked Leah up and sat her on her hip. "And you too, Leah," she added, smiling sadly at her.

"Why are you sad, grandma?" she asked concernedly. Lorelai sniffled and injected a bit more happiness into her smile.

"I'm not sad," she told her. "I'm just worried, that's all."

"Don't be worried, I'll be with mommy and daddy the whole time," she assured her. Lorelai sniffled again.

"I know honey, I'm just gonna miss you lots and lots." Leah wrapped her arms tightly around her grandmother as a way to comfort her.

"I'll miss you too, and you grandpa." She looked over at Luke and he nodded in acknowledgement. "But we're not going forever and ever, are we mommy?"

"No sweetie, we'll be back next week."

"See grandma, we'll be back next week!" she exclaimed. Lorelai had to smile at Leah's excitement and she quickly wiped her eyes dry with her free hand.

"If you say so." Rory and Leah's flight was called, and Lorelai looked over at Rory.

"I guess you have to go now, huh?"

"Yeah," she replied uneasily.

"Okay, give me a big fat kiss to keep me going till next week," she ordered. Leah grinned and obliged, leaving a kiss right on Lorelai's lips. "And a hug." Leah rolled her eyes.

"Grandma we have to go," she told her as she gave her a quick, brief hug. Lorelai put her down, Leah gave Luke a quick kiss and hug, then Rory was picking up their carry-on bag.

"I'll call you when we get to Logan's place, okay?" Lorelai nodded, gave Rory a hug then watched as the two girls walked away. Leah turned back around just before they rounded the corner and waved at her grandma and grandpa. Lorelai returned the gesture, then once the two were out of sight, she fell into Luke's embrace and cried into his shirt.

The hormones, he guessed.

XXXX

"My TV doesn't work," Leah complained once they had settled into their seats. Rory leaned over to check, noticing that the screen was blank.

"You have to turn it on, silly," Rory giggled, pressing the 'on' switch.

"Oh." Leah laughed and began browsing through the movies, TV shows and games. "SpongeBob!" she exclaimed, gaining a few glances from the people surrounding them.

"Leah, use your inside voice, okay? There are other people around." Leah nodded and settled down into her seat to watch SpongeBob Squarepants.

"We're moving," Leah whispered a little while later.

"Yeah we are," replied Rory. "Wanna hold my hand?" The little girl nodded quickly and Rory offered her hand out to her. She took it immediately and gripped it tightly. After a few laps around the runway, the plane finally began to speed up and Leah gripped Rory's hand even tighter. "I think you're cutting off my circulation," she told her.

"This is scary," she said as the plane left the ground. Rory wrapped her arm around her daughter to try to make her feel safe.

"It's okay, I'm here." Leah snuggled closer into her embrace and closed her eyes, managing to fall asleep in her mother's arms.

XXXX

"Come on, sleepy head," said Rory as she dragged Leah off the plane. She had slept for the entire plane journey, and it seemed that she was still half asleep now.

"Where are we going?" Leah whined.

"We're in California, honey, we're gonna see daddy." Leah's eyes lit up and she jumped up a little bit.

"Already?" she asked. "We wasn't on the plane for long."

"We were, you just slept through it," she teased. "Come on, he's waiting for us at baggage claim.

As soon as Leah spotted her father, she was off. She ran towards him with the biggest grin on her face you could imagine, and luckily, Logan had spotted her because if not, she would have run straight into his legs.

"Daddy!" she shrieked with excitement as she jumped into his waiting arms. He spun her in the air a few times before bringing her down and resting her on his hip.

"Hey Little Ace," he greeted her. "How's it going?"

"Airplane's are scary," she said with a nod.

"If you say so, sweet cheeks." He looked up and saw Rory approaching him, so he set Leah on her feet and held his arms out to her too.

"Hi Logan," she said as he lifted her off her feet and gave her the tightest squeeze she had ever received from him.

"Ace, it's so good to see you," he told her, wasting no time in kissing her senseless. She pulled away gasping for air a little bit, and he let her feet touch the ground again. "I missed you."

"Me too, Logan, you have no idea how much." Her arms were still around his neck, and he shook his head.

"I have a pretty good idea actually," he said confidently.

"I missed you too, daddy," piped in Leah, obviously feeling a little left out.

"And I missed seeing you." He lifted her up again and kissed her cheek several times, gaining giggles from Leah, before hoisting her up so she was sitting on his shoulders. "Ready to go to the apartment? I've got it all set up for you guys."

"Sure, lead the way kind sir." Logan picked up their suitcase and wrapped his free arm around Rory, beginning to lead them out of the airport.

"Do I have my own room?" asked Leah curiously as she held onto her father's head to keep her upright on his shoulders.

"Yep, I made it up just for you; I even bought you new sheets." Leah smiled and watched as the sun shone through the big glass window at the front of the airport.

"Wow, it's sunny here," she gasped. That wasn't what she was expecting. "Is there celebrities around here?"

"You'll have to keep a lookout for them," he told her. They walked outside and Logan led them over to his car, which he'd parked near the entrance.

"It's boiling!" said Leah, looking up at the sky which was completely blue, not a cloud in sight. "And the clouds are gone." Logan and Rory shared a look of pride at their daughter's ability to talk.

"She gets it from your side of the family," he joked as he opened the passenger door for her, then settled Leah into the backseat. It was gonna be a fun week.

XXXX

After spending their first day at the beach, Leah was exhausted. Logan tucked her in that night and kissed her forehead.

"Are you glad you're here?" he asked. Leah nodded tiredly, she was already dozing off. "Good, I'm glad to have you here," he told her.

"Goodnight daddy, love you," she mumbled.

"Love you too, Little Ace," he said as she fell asleep. He sat there a few minutes longer, just watching his little girl sleep. He hadn't seen her for weeks and he was making the most of having her nearby.

Finally he shut off the light and left the room, closing the door after him. He ruffled his hair then made his way to his bedroom that he would be sharing with Rory while they were here. She wasn't in bed when he came in, and the light was on in the adjoining bathroom, so he climbed into bed and waited for her to finish whatever nightly rituals she went through.

It took her fifteen minutes, but she was finally ready for bed. She exited the bathroom in short shorts and a vest top, causing Logan's eyes to widen momentarily.

"Wow," he breathed.

"What? It's unusually warm here," she told him as she slipped into the other side of the bed. Logan wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to him, immediately going for her lips. She let him, and they started a competitive game of tonsil tennis, which lasted at least ten minutes. Rory pulled away and tried to regain a normal breathing rhythm. "Logan?" she asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Hmm?" He began playing with her hair, running his fingers through it and smoothing it down with his hand.

"I wanna um...I want us to take our relationship further," she told him. Logan furrowed his brows as he stared at her, trying to decipher the meaning of her statement. What did she mean exactly?

"You mean...

"Sex, yeah," she finished for him. Logan let out a puff of air from his lungs, debating whether he should go ahead with her offer. She had only been here a day, he didn't want to take advantage of her, but she was the one suggesting it so why should he feel guilty?

"You're sure?" he asked.

"We're responsible adults, Logan, we have a kid, we're not in college anymore." He nodded in agreement before catching her lips with his. "I'll take that as a yes," she giggled when he moved to her neck.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do this, Ace," he told her.

"Too long," she murmured. They did what they do best together that night, and every other night of their visit.

**And there you have it :D Please leave a review if you're still interested in this, I know it's hard to keep track of a story when the author doesn't update for aaages.**

**This is coming to a close soon, this is gonna be a twenty chapter story, so three more to go. **

**See you soon.**

**Emily. **


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello everybody. Sorry about the wait AGAIN! I keep losing track of this story, but after this there are only two more chapters and hopefully I should be able to get it completed soon. **

**Thanks for all your reviews, I hope you are all still reading this. Enjoy.**

Rory got up early on their final day in California; Leah hadn't even woken up yet. She stood in the kitchen staring into space, as she thought ahead to later in the day when she and Leah would be boarding the plane back to Connecticut.

She couldn't wait to get back to normal temperatures and to see her mom, but she didn't want to leave Logan. She wanted him to come with them. She was brought out of her thoughts when the man himself entered the kitchen and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"Morning," he whispered in her ear, leaving a series of kisses on her neck. "You're up early."

"Yeah, I was just thinking," she said.

"Oh yeah, anything specific?" he asked.

"About this afternoon mainly," she sighed. Logan dropped a kiss in her hair and pulled her tighter against him.

"We've still got hours," he told her. Rory nodded and let her head fall back against his shoulder.

"Still not long enough," she mumbled.

"I know, but it'll only be a few weeks till I move to Connecticut," he reminded her. "We can talk on the phone."

"It's not the same." Logan sighed and rubbed her back.

"We'll just have to deal for the time being."

"I guess."

"Anyway, I was thinking that when I move out east that I could get a house, instead of an apartment," he told her. Rory creased her brow.

"Why do you need a house? Surely an apartment's big enough."

"I thought you were supposed to be smart, Ace," he said jokingly. Rory got even more confused.

"What?" she asked.

"You see, I was kinda hoping that if I bought a house, you and Leah would consider moving into it with me," he suggested. Rory's eyes nearly bugged out of her head.

"You want us to live with you?" she asked in awe.

"Yeah," he shrugged. "We've had a good time together this week, Leah's had fun, I think it'd make sense for us to move in together. Then we can be a proper family."

"Wow, um, I guess we could do that," she agreed slowly. Had she really just agreed to move in with Logan?

"Really?" he asked, not seeming to believe that she had agreed to his offer.

"Yes," she squealed, tightening her arms around his neck. Logan laughed and captured her lips with his, showing her how happy he was at the moment. They were interrupted by their daughter entering the room, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Eww," she groaned when she saw her parents making out in the kitchen. The adults pulled away laughing, before Logan disentangled himself from Rory and held his arms out to Leah, who eagerly jumped into them. "I didn't wanna see that when I just got outta bed," she complained. Logan grinned.

"Sorry Little Ace, it's something you're gonna have to get used to," he replied, causing Leah to scrunch her face up.

"What are we doing today?" she asked, hoping it was something fun.

"Well, I thought we could have some breakfast, then head down to Chuck E Cheese, what do you say?"

"Yeah!" she said excitedly, hugging her father tightly.

"Okay, we have to be back by lunch though, you girls have packing to do," he warned.

"Why do we have to pack?" Leah asked curiously. Logan glanced at Rory, silently asking her for some kind of help explaining the situation.

"We have to pack cause we're going back to Stars Hollow later today," she informed. "To see grandma and grandpa." Leah frowned.

"Are you coming with us daddy?" she asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately not, sweetheart," he told her. "I'm not joining you for a few weeks yet."

"But, I'll miss you," she said sadly.

"I know, but we can still talk," he assured her. Leah looked like she was about to cry, so Rory ran her hand through her hair soothingly.

"Guess what's gonna happen when daddy does move to Stars Hollow?" she asked. Leah looked up in interest.

"What?"

"He's gonna get a house and we're gonna live with him." The little girl's eyes lit up.

"Really?" she asked. When both Logan and Rory nodded, Leah squealed excitedly. "Are grandma and grandpa and the baby gonna move with us too?"

"Uh, no," Rory answered hesitantly. "They're gonna stay where they are now." Leah frowned again.

"But...then they'll live in a different place to us."

"Sweetie, that's the idea," Rory explained. "Me, you and daddy are a family, and grandma, grandpa and the baby are another family. So even though we're all related, we're two separate families and grandma and grandpa need their own space."

"Will we still see them?" she asked.

"Of course."

"Every day?"

"Yes, every day," she confirmed. "We can go to the diner every day."

"And see the baby every day?"

"Oh yeah, we're not gonna miss out on that," she assured her. Leah looked back to Logan and smiled sadly.

"You're not gonna be longer than a few weeks, are you daddy?" she asked. Logan looked into her big blue eyes and grinned to himself.

"No way, Little Ace, I couldn't stay away from you for that long." Leah smiled and kissed her father's cheek, before he put her down so he could make breakfast for his girls.

XXXX

"Quick mommy, I need to take my shoes off," said Leah impatiently as she tugged on Rory's hand. They had just arrived at Chuck E Cheese, and Logan was next in line to pay.

"Leah, hang on," she told her. "Daddy has to pay first."

"But I wanna go in," she whined. "Look at the slide, and the ball pit!"

"I know, but you have to wait for daddy to pay," she said sternly. Leah pouted, just as Logan appeared at their sides, stuffing his credit card back into his wallet.

"What's that face for?" he asked her.

"I wanna go in," she whined, jumping on the spot slightly.

"Go on then," he allowed. Leah grinned and carelessly began tugging her shoes off. She thrust them at her mother then ran off towards the action. Logan winked at his girlfriend before taking off after Leah.

"Charming," Rory muttered as she looked down at the pair of shoes in her hands. She found a table near the edge of the ball pit and watched as Logan interacted with their daughter.

"No, daddy don't!" Leah screeched as her father lifted her in the air and threw her into the mass of multicoloured balls. The little girl giggled and threw a few at Logan. "You're mean." Logan chuckled.

"Why are you laughing then?" he asked. Leah shrugged her shoulders as a smile crept onto her face.

"Leave me alone," she muttered, before scrambling through the ball pit to get to the edge.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"To the slide," she told him. Logan nodded and climbed out of the pit, going to sit with Rory at her table.

"Hey," he greeted her. She smiled at him as he put his arm around her shoulders.

"Where did Leah go?" she asked.

"To the slide," he answered. "She should be coming down in a minute." Rory nodded and rested her head on his shoulder. Logan noticed she was quieter than usual, and he had a feeling that something was bothering her. "Hey, you okay?" he asked tentatively. Rory nodded.

"Just," she paused. "Four hours," she sighed.

"Try not to think about it, okay? Let's go have fun." The corners of her lips turned up into a smile as he pulled her up from her seat, dragging her towards the entrance to the ball pit.

"Mommy, daddy, I'm coming down now!" she called excitedly from the top of the slide. The couple looked up to find Leah looking to make sure they were watching her.

"Okay honey, we're watching," Rory assured her. Leah grinned before falling to her butt and sliding down into the ball pit. Rory and Logan clapped their hands, both smiling proudly at their little girl. Logan looked down at Rory beside him then scooped her up into his arms, causing her to yelp in surprise.

"You ready, Ace?" he asked with a mischievous glint in his eye. Rory wriggled, trying to break free but Logan had too tight of a hold on her.

"Put me down Logan!" she called as he started heading towards the ball pit. Leah watched in amusement as her father carried her protesting mother over to the entrance, then threw her into the mass of balls. "Logan," she squealed as she landed. Leah giggled and clambered over to her, beginning to throw the balls so they covered Rory.

"We have to bury you, mommy," she told her. "Like we buried daddy in the sand." Rory had started laughing uncontrollably, seemingly unable to stop. Logan came up beside Leah and helped her drop the balls on top of Rory, before she seemed to become very still. Leah watched as nothing happened, not anticipating what her mom was about to do.

"Rarrggggghhh!" she screamed as she jumped up from under the balls, sending them flying everywhere. Leah screamed and tried to get away, but Rory was one step ahead and had already gotten a firm grip on her.

"Ahhh mommy," she whined. Rory laughed and began tickling her until she fell over into the pool of balls. Leah giggled, not able to stop. "Stop...that...tickles," she said through her laughter. Soon Logan joined in, and it was one big, tickling family moment. Neither Rory nor Logan wanted it to end either.

XXXX

That afternoon, the girls had packed their suitcases, Logan's car had been loaded up and it was almost time for them to leave for the airport. Rory was looking out of the living room window, thinking about how she didn't want to leave, but at the same time she wanted to see her mom again. Leah was standing in her bedroom, trying to remember it cause she knew she wouldn't see it again.

"Bye bed," she murmured. "Bye pillow, bye mirror." Logan heard her mumbling to herself and came to stand in her doorway, watching as she said goodbye to every piece of furniture in her temporary bedroom.

"Hey, whatcha doing?" he asked, coming in and crouching down in front of his daughter.

"Saying goodbye," she mumbled. He put his hands on her shoulders and smiled softly at her.

"Come on, it's time to go," he told her. Leah nodded sadly and grasped his hand tightly.

"Bye house," she said on the way out, before they all piled into the car.

They arrived at the airport not long after they set off and Logan courteously lugged their luggage along for them. After checking in and grabbing something to eat, they made their way to the security gate, both adults knowing that this was where they had to depart.

"So this is it for a few weeks," Rory sighed.

"It'll fly by," he assured her.

"Wishful thinking," she muttered. Logan frowned and looked down at their daughter, who was obliviously watching her surroundings.

"Hey Little Ace," he said. She turned her attention onto him and smiled. "Come here." She obliged and he lifted her into his arms, hugging her tightly to him. "I love you," he told her.

"Love you too daddy," she replied, snaking her arms around his neck.

"Will you call me tonight before you go to bed?" he requested. Leah nodded and rested her head on his shoulder. He looked to Rory and smiled softly.

"I love you too," she said coyly.

"You have no idea," he replied, shaking his head. He held his free arm out to her and she gladly stepped into it, sandwiching Leah between them. They stayed like that for a while, before Logan pulled away slightly to kiss her. She smiled into the kiss but as soon as he pulled away she frowned again. "Have a safe flight."

"We will," she nodded.

"I'll send you some details of houses I find in the Stars Hollow area," he said. Rory nodded as Logan put Leah on her feet and instantly noticed the few tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Hey, what are these for?" he asked, quickly wiping them away with the pad of his thumb.

"I don't wanna go," she said sadly.

"We have to go," said Rory, checking the time. "They'll be boarding soon." Logan nodded.

"It's time to go Little Ace, but I'll see you soon," he told her.

"Promise?" she asked.

"I promise," he nodded. "Now go, you don't wanna be late for your plane, do you?" Leah took hold of Rory's hand, saying one last goodbye before they went through security. As they got to the other side, Rory and Leah looked back to find Logan was waving at them. They waved back and Leah blew him a kiss, as they finally turned around and rounded the corner, heading to their gate.

XXXX

"How much longer?" Leah asked, remembering that she had to use her inside voice on airplanes.

"Four hours and forty two minutes," replied Rory.

"I'm bored."

"We've only been on the plane for twenty minutes," she said pointedly. Leah huffed and started searching around the back of the seat in front of her. "Whatcha doing?" Rory asked her.

"Looking for my TV," she answered. Rory frowned when she noticed the larger television hanging from the roof a few seats down from them.

"The TV's up there," she told her.

"But I thought we got our own."

"Not on this flight," she said. "You have to put your headphones in." Leah frowned as she looked at the big TV.

"I wanted to watch SpongeBob, this is boring," she whined, pointing to the movie that was currently showing.

"Hey, why don't we read a book instead?"

"No," she protested.

"What do you wanna do then?"

"Nothing," she huffed, before crossing her arms over her chest and slumping back into her seat moodily. Rory sighed; this was gonna be a long flight.

XXXX

"I like airplanes," Leah commented as they left the aircraft and made their way down to baggage claim.

"Do you?" asked Rory. She nodded and took hold of her mother's hand.

"How are we gonna get home?" she asked curiously.

"Grandma's meeting us here," she answered. Leah twisted her mouth thoughtfully.

"I missed grandma."

"Me too," Rory agreed.

"What about grandpa?"

"Well he's probably at work, so we'll have to see him later," she shrugged.

"I missed grandpa too," she said with a nod. They entered the baggage claim area, and sure enough, there was Lorelai, shifting from foot to foot excitedly.

"Hey, look who's over there." Rory pointed in her mother's direction, and Leah's whole face lit up when she saw the woman in question.

"Grandma!" she exclaimed loudly, causing Lorelai's ears to perk up and she quickly spotted her granddaughter sprinting towards her. When she got closer, Lorelai held her arms out in front of her before Leah could run into her.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down a little," she warned. "We have to be careful now cause of baby." Leah nodded and looked at Lorelai's small rounded stomach.

"Why are you fat?" she asked innocently. Lorelai's face fell a little bit; obviously she had some issues with her weight at the moment. Rory overheard the tail end of the conversation and shook her head at her daughter.

"Leah, that's not a very nice thing to say," she scolded. She looked to her mom and smiled, before wrapping her in a hug. "Hey mom," she greeted her. "I missed you."

"I missed you too kid," she replied, wrapping her arms tightly around Rory.

"Did you miss me?" Leah asked hopefully.

"No, not really," she answered nonchalantly. Leah's face fell and she looked saddened. "Of course I missed you, you silly billy." Leah grinned.

"I missed you too grandma," she said happily, wrapping her arms around Lorelai's legs and resting her cheek on her belly. "Your tummy's moving," she gasped, touching her hand to her cheek.

"Oh yeah, baby started moving around yesterday," she told them. "I think it's a boy, girls don't kick like this."

"Wow, I missed so much already," said Rory. "I can't believe how much he's grown in the week we've been away."

"And it all goes downhill from here," she said knowingly, before putting her arm around her daughter and turning her around. "Let's go get your luggage, we've got some catching up to do."

XXXX

That evening after dinner, the two younger Gilmore girls set up a movie in the living room while Lorelai finished helping Luke with the dishes and got the snacks ready.

"Here, I put some grapes in the popcorn bowl for you," Luke told her.

"Why are they in there?"

"Cause then you still get to dig your hand in the bowl, even though the popcorn makes you nauseous."

"You're the best husband ever," she gushed as she kissed him appreciatively. Luke chuckled before picking up the bowls of food and carrying them through into the living room, where the girls were getting comfy on the couch. "Is it all set up?" she asked them.

"Yep, we're just waiting for you." Luke situated himself on the opposite side of the couch to Rory and Lorelai fell down beside him, squashing up against him so she could use him as her pillow. Leah crawled into Luke's lap and smiled at him, before Rory pressed play and they all settled down for the movie.

About halfway in, Rory reached her hand over to the bowl resting on Lorelai's lap, but she pulled it out of her reach quickly.

"Stop hogging all the popcorn," she hissed. Lorelai looked at her.

"It's not popcorn," she replied, tipping the bowl up to show Rory the green grapes sitting in the bottom of the bowl.

"Why are you eating grapes?"

"Because the baby hates popcorn and every time I try to eat it I end up leaning over the toilet," she sulked. "This is so Luke's kid."

"I should hope it is too," the man himself interrupted, stroking his hand through Leah's hair.

"Luke, do we have popcorn?" she asked him.

"No, your mom can't handle the smell," he told her. Rory slumped back into her seat.

"This is bad, this is really, really bad," she said, shaking her head to emphasise her point. Lorelai rested her hand over Rory's.

"Just another four months to go," she sighed, before taking her attention back to the TV.

The movie finished, and Luke went to put the sleepy Leah to bed, after she'd called her father that is. While he was upstairs, Rory found the perfect opportunity to tell Lorelai her news. She just hoped her reaction wouldn't be too bad.

"So, I have something to tell you," Rory started, watching as her mother polished off the bowl of grapes.

"Oh yeah, is it about you and Logan?" she asked teasingly.

"Maybe," she answered in the same tone.

"Well come on, do tell," she prompted.

"While Leah and I were over in California, we had a really great time," she said. "We loved hanging around with Logan all the time, you know, having him there when we woke up and went to bed at night."

"Go on."

"So, the thing is, Logan and I decided that we're gonna move in together when he moves up here," she blurted out. Lorelai's eyes widened, she was shocked. "And we're taking Leah, did I mention that?"

"Wow, uh, congratulations," she managed to get out. "So you're moving out in a few weeks, huh?" Rory nodded, smiling to herself.

"Yeah, I know it's soon, but..." Lorelai cut her off.

"No, no, I understand," she assured her. There was a silence between them, and Rory could have sworn she heard Lorelai sniffle. "Anyway, it's late, I'm gonna head up to bed," she said, not even giving Rory a chance to say anything before she took off up the steps. Rory frowned as she watched after her mother, she was worried about her, but she knew it'd be best if she left her alone for now.

Luke quietly closed Leah's door after himself and stepped away from it, glad that he had finally gotten the little girl to sleep. He thought she would have been exhausted after the long plane journey, but ever since she had called Logan she had been full of beans. He began to head towards the staircase, when Lorelai came bounding up it, almost bashing into him. He noticed her eyes were watery, and she was sniffling.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked softly. He'd been having to deal with her emotions a lot lately, and he had become a bit of a pro at it.

"Nothing, just tired," she mumbled, wiping at her eyes furiously. Luke frowned and placed his hands on her hips.

"Go get ready for bed; I'll be there in a minute okay?" She nodded and he released her, watching as she disappeared into their bedroom. He sighed and headed downstairs, hoping to get the full story from Rory.

"Did Leah go down?" she asked as he stepped down the remaining stairs. He nodded and stopped in front of her, hands on his hips.

"What's wrong with Lorelai?" he asked pointedly. "She was fine when I left here, but I just ran into her upstairs and she was crying." Rory's face fell.

"I told her that Leah and I are moving in with Logan when he gets here," she told him. "Obviously she didn't take it very well."

"Jeez," he sighed. "She's just been really emotional lately, damn hormones."

"I didn't mean to make her upset; I just thought she had a right to know."

"I know, it's not your fault," he assured her. "Anyway, I'm gonna go make sure she's alright." He gestured upstairs and she nodded.

"Goodnight Luke."

"G'night Rory, good to have you back," he said with a nod before ascending the stairs again. He made it into their bedroom and noticed Lorelai was curled up on the bed, still sniffling. He removed his shirt and changed into sweatpants, before climbing into bed and pulling her against him. "You okay?" he whispered, smoothing her hair away from her damp face.

"Rory's moving out," she told him, burying her face in his chest.

"I know," he said. "She is twenty five though." Lorelai nodded.

"She's taking Leah."

"Shh," he soothed. "They couldn't stay here forever, they were bound to get their own place sooner or later."

"It's happening so fast though," she sobbed. "I'm losing them both, Luke, I don't wanna lose them." Luke hated these damn hormones.

"Hey, hey, you're not losing them, they're not going far," he assured her. "We'll still see them all the time."

"I guess," she muttered.

"Yeah, and we'll have the baby to take care of," he added. "We could do with the extra space for all the stuff you've bought already." Lorelai laughed slightly through her sobbing.

"Do you think it'll be okay?" she asked.

"Course it will be," he replied. "Just imagine what it's gonna be like when this little one gets here." He placed his hand on her stomach. "It'll be so hectic that you won't even realise Rory and Leah are gone."

"You think so?"

"Oh yeah, and they're gonna be round here all the time anyway," he brushed off. "They won't be able to stay away." Lorelai shuffled back a bit and smiled up at his face.

"I love you," she murmured before closing her eyes.

"Feeling's mutual," he answered as he gave her belly a few taps. He smiled to himself as he too closed his eyes. Another round of hormones sorted out, he couldn't wait for their baby to be born and for her craziness to die down a little. It was driving him insane and there were still another four months to go.

**I hope you liked it :D It's quite long, I think, longer than the other chapters are. Anyway I would love it if you could review, it would be great. I will try to post the next chapter soon, but I'm not promising anything, because my promise will probably be broken.**

**Hopefully I will see you soon!**

**Emily.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello, I haven't left it too long this time have I? I think it's only been a week or so... Anyway, this is the penultimate chapter, which means only one more after this. Thanks for everyone that's sticking by this story, I would have liked to have gotten a couple more reviews though. I guess I lost readers when I took such a long break from this story. **

**I hope you like it, it only took me an hour and a half!**

"Okay, I think it's time for bed now, Leah," said Rory, looking at her daughter pointedly. Leah took her attention away from the TV and frowned.

"But I'm not tired," she argued.

"Come on, we have a big day tomorrow." Rory began to get up from her seat, but Lorelai stopped her.

"I'll take her up," she offered, and Rory could tell that her mother needed this interaction with her granddaughter, for it could possibly be the last time she'd get to do this in a while.

"Will you read me a story, grandma?" asked Leah as they began to ascend the staircase.

"You'll have to wait and see," she teased. Leah smiled and they walked into her room, where Lorelai proceeded to get her PJs out for her. After Leah was ready for bed, and her teeth were brushed, Lorelai tucked her under the covers and smiled softly at her as she rested on the edge.

"Grandma?" Leah asked tentatively. Lorelai smoothed the girl's blonde hair from her face, detecting that she may be worried about something.

"Yeah sweetie?"

"Is this the last time I sleep in my bed?"

"Well, yeah it is, but tomorrow you get a new bed," she enticed. Leah just frowned though.

"What will happen to my bed?"

"Um, it'll stay here," she shrugged.

"You won't throw it away?"

"Of course not, is that what you're worried about?" Leah nodded. "Listen honey, I know you're moving in with your mom and dad tomorrow, but there's nothing to stop you coming to sleep here whenever you want to, okay?"

"But what about when the baby's here, will I still be able to sleep here then?"

"Sure," she nodded. "Maybe not for the first couple of weeks, just until we're all settled in, but then you can come visit whenever."

"Okay," she said, seeming to be happy with the explanation she'd received.

"Alright, are you gonna go to sleep now?"

"I don't wanna," she shook her head.

"Come on, it's eight thirty already." Leah paused.

"Can we talk a little bit longer?" she pleaded. Lorelai narrowed her eyes at her granddaughter, but she could never refuse her anything for long.

"Okay, ten more minutes and then you're going to sleep missy." Leah smiled.

"Okay," she quickly agreed, taking anything she could get.

"Can I feel the baby?" Lorelai nodded and stretched back on the bed slightly, allowing Leah access to her growing tummy.

"Nothing's happening," she sighed.

"That's cause baby hasn't moved yet, it should happen any day though."

"Will I miss it?"

"No, course you won't," she assured. "You're only gonna be living a few streets away, and as soon as the baby starts moving around, I'll come right over and tell you."

"That's good," she nodded, causing Lorelai to chuckle and pull the girl towards her the best she could from her position.

"I'm gonna miss having you around all the time, little girl," she sighed. There had been many nights that she had laid in bed and cried into Luke's chest since Rory had told her the news, and she had a feeling that tonight wasn't an exception. She sniffled as she held her granddaughter, and Leah automatically picked up on it.

"Are you sad grandma?" she asked in concern.

"I'm okay, hon," she told her, but the tears told a different story.

"Why are you crying? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, you haven't done anything, don't worry," she sobbed. Leah was getting more and more worried as time went on, and she had no idea what to do. Should she go get Luke?

"Do you want me to get grandpa?" Lorelai wiped her eyes and shook her head stubbornly.

"No, it's just my stupid hormones," she complained. Leah looked puzzled.

"What are hormones?" she asked confusedly.

"Nothing for you to worry about." Once she had finally gotten her eyes dry, she smiled down at Leah. "Come on, sleepy time," she ordered, slowly getting up from the bed and tucking the covers around her.

"Do I have to go to sleep?" she whined.

"Yes, anyway, the sooner you go to sleep, the sooner you wake up and your dad will be here." Leah grinned from ear to ear.

"Okay," she nodded as she dug her head in her pillow. Lorelai leaned down as far as she could and Leah met her halfway, leaving a kiss on her cheek. "I love you, night."

"Goodnight baby," she whispered. She watched Leah fall asleep, then moved to the chair in the side of the room that she used to sit in to feed her as a baby. She watched the girl sleep, noticing the slight rise and fall of her chest, the way her hair fanned out across the pillow, and the way she made cute little noises now and again. She didn't actually realise how long she'd been sitting there, not until someone came looking for her.

"Hey," Luke whispered as he entered the room. He noticed her puffy, red eyes and sighed quietly to himself; he'd spent too much time comforting his hormonal wife recently. "What are you doing in here?" he asked as he crouched down next to the chair.

"Just...watching her sleep...making the most of it, you know?" He nodded and brushed a strand of hair from her face.

"You okay?" he asked tentatively. Sometimes if he asked her if she was okay, it would make her even more upset, but that was never his intention, he just cared about her.

"Yeah, I was thinking about tomorrow," she admitted. "I can't believe it's come around so quickly."

"Tell me about it." He paused for a moment, trying to think of something useful to say. "Think about it though; if the past couple of weeks have gone so quickly, then the baby will come sooner than we think." He touched her rounded stomach. "Look at him already, he's growing so quickly." Lorelai smiled affectionately and put her hand over his.

"You're adamant that it's a boy, aren't you?" she chuckled.

"Come on, I need some male presence around here, I'm outnumbered."

"But then I'll be outnumbered once Rory and Leah are gone," she pointed out. Luke shrugged.

"I think you could take it," he nodded. "He'll be a momma's boy anyway."

"Don't speak about our child like that," she scolded, swatting his chest playfully.

"You'd love a momma's boy, admit it."

"Fine, I would, but you don't have to call him that just cause he loves him mommy." Luke shook his head and stood up, pulling her to her feet as well.

"Tell you what, you go get comfy in bed and I'll go help Rory put the rest of the boxes in the cars, then I'll be up to be your pillow in a little while, okay?"

"Sounds nice," she sighed, leaning into him slightly. "Do you need help with the boxes?"

"No, you shouldn't be lifting things, just go relax," he ordered, being his overprotective self as usual.

"Yes master," she teased as she sauntered down the hall. Luke watched her, then made sure Leah's door was closed and headed down the stairs.

XXXX

"Where's Colonel Clucker?" asked Leah as she peeked through Rory's car window the next day. The vehicle was piled with boxes, as was Luke's truck.

"He's in one of the boxes," replied Rory. She was hardly listening, she was too busy watching out for Logan. He was meeting them at the Crap Shack, rather than the girls trudging all the way to Hartford to meet him. It was easier this way.

"Which one?" she questioned.

"I don't know," she said irritably. "We'll find him when we unpack later."

"I want him now," she whined.

"Leah, we'll find him later, okay?" she snapped. Leah frowned and began to walk away, wanting to find something to do. All this waiting around was boring.

"Grandpa, when is daddy gonna be here?" she asked him.

"Any minute now," he answered as he sat next to Lorelai on the porch steps. "Why don't you go over there and wait for him with your mom?"

"She's in a bad mood," she murmured. Lorelai smiled.

"I think she's just excited, babe, your dad's been away for a while," Lorelai told her.

"I know, I missed him."

"Well you don't have long to wait," said Luke, pointing to the cab that had just come around the corner. It stopped at the end of the driveway and Logan paid the driver, before getting out and pulling his suitcase from the trunk.

"Logan!" Rory squealed, jumping right into his arms and sending the luggage to the floor.

"Hey Ace, am I glad to see you," he said into her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

"I'm so happy you're finally here," she said excitedly.

"Daddy!" shouted Leah, also jumping into his arms. He caught her small frame easily and spun her around a few times.

"Hi Little Ace," he greeted. "Miss me?"

"Lots and lots," she confirmed, squeezing him tightly. Logan laughed and loosened his grip on her a little bit.

"You all ready for the big move?" he asked them.

"Yeah, everything's in the car, and the new furniture's already over there," said Rory.

"I moved it all into the right rooms," Luke told him. "All you have to do is arrange it however you want and get the boxes unpacked."

"Thanks Luke," he said, shaking his hand to show his gratitude. Luke nodded subtly before wrapping his arm around Lorelai's shoulders.

"Hi Lorelai, you look good," he complimented, causing Lorelai to giggle.

"You don't have to lie for my benefit, Logan," she said. Logan looked to Luke in confusion, but the man simply shook his head, telling him not to even go there.

"So shall we get moving?" he asked, gesturing towards the cars. "I can't wait till I can climb into bed and get some sleep."

"There might be a long way to go then," said Luke, they still had all the furniture to move and the bedcovers to unpack.

"Bye Crap Shack," called Leah, waving her hand at the house.

"Leah, don't use that word," Luke scolded.

"But that's what it's called," she defended herself. "Mommy and Grandma say it all the time."

"It's an adult name," he told her. "You just call it house."

"Fine, bye house!" she corrected. They all got into their respective cars, Leah riding with Luke and Lorelai cause the backseat was full in Rory's car, and they drove round to the new house.

"It's better than the pictures," said Logan, admiring his new house.

"Told you," Rory nudged him. Luke, Lorelai and Leah came up next to them and they all looked up at the new residence.

"It's big," said Leah.

"That's what she said," joked Lorelai. Leah looked round at her confusedly.

"What?"

"Okay, what do you say we get unpacking?" Luke asked, cutting of the girls' conversation. It would never turn out good in the end.

"Sure, I think we should arrange the furniture before we bring the crap in," suggested Logan.

"Hey, that's my stuff we're talking about," Rory complained.

"Right, tell me Luke, how many boxes have 'books' written on the side?"

"Not that many!" she interrupted.

"Sixteen, and they're not small boxes either," he answered.

"God help us all," he muttered.

XXXX

The furniture was arranged, the boxes had been brought in and the majority unpacked, all waiting to be put into their rightful places. Luke and Lorelai had said goodbye to Leah, who was now tucked up in bed after the long day, and the only person left to say farewell to was Rory.

"Good luck, kid," said Luke sincerely. "I hope it all works out for you."

"Thanks Luke," she smiled sheepishly. They shared an awkward hug, one where Luke patted her on the head uncertainly.

"I'll wait in the truck," he said to Lorelai, before walking down the garden path.

"So, this is it," said Lorelai.

"Yeah, I guess so," she nodded. They stared at each other for a moment, tears welling up in both of their eyes.

"Come here," she demanded, pulling her daughter into a hug. Rory complied and they held each other tightly. The memories were flooding back to them of the first time Rory left, only this time the circumstances were obviously different.

"I've only moved two streets away," commented Rory through her sobs, "And I'm a nervous wreck."

"Speak for yourself; I'm pregnant, what's your excuse?"

"Could be the same as yours," she said, causing Lorelai to pull back in surprise.

"What?" she gasped.

"Relax, it was just a joke, I'm not pregnant and I don't plan to be for at least another year or so."

"Thank the lord," said Lorelai with a hand over her heart. "Don't give mommy a heart attack like that; it's bad for the baby."

"I'm sorry." They stopped and looked at each other again, both knowing that this was the part where one of them walked away.

"So, I'll see you in the diner for breakfast tomorrow?" she asked hopefully.

"You will," she confirmed. "We definitely don't have any food here, and we've gotta eat."

"Good, I'll make sure it's on the house."

"Do you own the diner now?"

"No, but I have my wicked way with the owner," she winked, making Rory cringe.

"Okay, see you tomorrow morning." They hugged one more time, then Lorelai began to step back away from the door.

"Give Leah a kiss from me," she requested, waving one final time before turning around and heading for the truck. Rory watched them drive away, then went back into the house and locked the door, before heading upstairs to her and Logan's new bedroom.

"You asleep?" she asked him as she climbed into bed.

"Not yet," he replied. "I was waiting for you."

"Well I'm here now," she said, snuggling up to him.

"Have Lorelai and Luke gone?"

"Yeah, mom was emotional, but she is pregnant so it kinda explains it." Logan wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

"I love you," he murmured into her hair. Rory smiled; she couldn't believe she was lying in bed with Logan, in Stars Hollow, in their new house, in their own bed. She was happier than she ever imagined herself to be, and she wouldn't change a thing about her life right now.

**One more to go...**

**Please review, I am going to write the next chapter as soon as possible, in the next seven days I think. See you soon.**

**Emily.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Here is the last instalment! I know this has taken me an extremely long time to write, and there was a massive break between updates, but I think it has been a success :D**

**Thanks for the reviews in the last chapter.**

**How exciting was Parenthood yesterday? I just watched it online today and I can't believe the bit at the end...can't wait to see what happens there! Just thought I'd add this in, cause none of my friends know what it is so I have to talk to somebody about it :P**

**Oh and there is a twist in here that I haven't mentioned before in the story, partly because it never came up. It is relevant to the chapter though. I hope you enjoy it, and make it last as long as possible!**

"Mom, are you here?" Rory called as she entered the Crap Shack.

"Course I am," she replied. Rory entered the living room to see her mother lying on the couch, a plate resting on her very pregnant belly. "I can't go very far these days."

"Scoot up a little," she told her, wanting to sit on the couch next to her mother. Lorelai just glared at her.

"Don't you dare make me move," she warned. "This is the first comfortable position I've found since three days ago."

"Okay, I'll sit over here then," she answered a little defensively. She collapsed onto the chair and eyed her mom. "So are you feeling any better?" Lorelai sighed.

"I won't feel better until this kid's outta me," she whined, before looking down at her tummy. "What's wrong with you? Just get out already."

"Mom, shouting at the baby won't make him or her come out quicker," she pointed out.

"Easy for you to say," she mumbled. "Leah was born six days early; you're one of the lucky ones."

"It's only been a week since your due date," she said.

"Oh, _only_ a week huh? Gee, that's not a long time at all," she retorted sarcastically. Rory sighed deeply, her mom was pretty impossible to be around at the moment.

"Look, maybe they just predicted the date wrong or something."

"But they didn't," she said exasperatedly, "I look like a hippopotamus, there is no way I'm less pregnant than I think I am."

"Okay, whatever you say," she said, deciding to steer away from dangerous topics. "Have you tried any of the inducing methods the doctor told you about?" Lorelai huffed and crossed her arms over herself the best she could.

"They don't work."

"Did you try the spicy food?"

"Made me sick," she complained. Rory rolled her eyes again.

"What about the pineapple thing?"

"That didn't work either," she sighed. Rory thought before suggesting the next thing on the list, but it didn't really bother her all that much, as long as her brother or sister would make their entrance into the world soon.

"Did you and Luke try the...you know, the sex thing?" she asked hesitantly. Lorelai looked over at her, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"No," she replied. "He's been working late recently, I don't know why." Rory knew why, and as awful as it seemed that her mother was in the house by herself, she understood Luke's need to get away from her. "And when he does get in I'm rather too tired or I've already fallen asleep." Rory frowned, her mom came across as sad about Luke's absence recently, she even looked a little lonely.

"Why don't you talk to him about it?"

"I don't wanna make him uncomfortable," she brushed off. "I mean, sex can't exactly be easy when you're as fat as I am."

"You're not fat, mom," Rory assured her.

"Humph," was Lorelai's reply. Rory looked towards the kitchen.

"Do you want something to eat, or a drink?" she asked. She wanted to make herself busy, rather than sit around listening to her mom complain all day.

"Hmm some of that peppermint tea Luke likes would be nice," she replied.

"Okay, coming right up," she said. She got up and began to walk away, but turned around before she made it out of the room. "I'm sure he or she is gonna be with us soon," she told her, before turning on her heel and leaving the living room. Lorelai looked down at her bulging belly and narrowed her eyes at it.

"You'd better be," she said quietly.

XXXX

Luke was surprised to find the light on in their bedroom when he returned home a couple of nights later. Lorelai was usually asleep by this time, but she seemed pretty wide awake to him.

"Hey," she greeted him as he stepped into the room.

"You're still awake?" he questioned her.

"Yeah, I took a nap this afternoon so I'm not that tired tonight," she replied. She watched him remove his clothes, before he stood looking at her with his hands on his hips.

"No sign of baby yet?" he asked, and Lorelai shook her head.

"Nope, not even close." After he'd brushed his teeth, he returned to their bedroom and climbed into bed next to Lorelai, eyeing her huge stomach warily. She looked about ready to explode, and he was worried that if the baby didn't come out soon, she would. "Hey, so I was thinking about something," she began, interrupting his thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"You know that pamphlet about inducing labour the doctor gave us?" He nodded. "There's something we haven't tried in there."

"Really? I thought we did them all," he muttered. She pulled the leaflet from her nightstand and opened it to the section they hadn't even discussed.

"Sex is meant to be one of the most effective labour inducing methods," she informed him. "I was thinking that we could try it, you know, maybe it'll help to get this show on the road." Luke looked slightly horrified, and Lorelai had to admit that she was a little hurt by his reaction. She wasn't that repulsive was she?

"Um..." he stopped talking completely.

"You don't want to, I get it," she said, although Luke swore he could detect sadness in her voice.

"It's just that..."

"I know, I'm fat and repulsive," she filled in for him. Luke creased his brow and sat up further against the headboard.

"You're not fat, or repulsive," he assured her. "You're beautiful."

"Then why don't you wanna have sex with me? I'm your wife, we're supposed to do that," she cried, the tears beginning to run down her cheeks. Luke sighed silently; he couldn't wait for this pregnancy to be over.

"Lorelai, you're nine months pregnant," he began, but was once again cut off by her.

"Nine months and nine days."

"Okay, you're nine months and nine days pregnant," he corrected himself. "It's not that I don't wanna have sex with you, I'm just worried about the baby. He's fully developed now; he can probably sense these things. I don't wanna scar him for life."

"Could be a girl," she reminded him, a small smile sitting on her lips.

"Whether it's a girl or a boy, it doesn't matter." Lorelai took hold of his hand and started to play with his fingers.

"You know that sex doesn't harm the baby at all, they're oblivious as to what's going on." Luke looked uneasy for a moment, before sighing begrudgingly.

"Do you really think it'll work?" he asked.

"Worth a shot," she shrugged.

"But it's your birthday tomorrow," he remembered. "Do you really wanna be lying in a hospital bed rather than opening your gifts?"

"I can celebrate later," she said. "It might be kinda cool to share the same birthday as my kid." Luke thought about it for a moment before giving her hand a squeeze and moving in to kiss her. "Is that a yes?" she asked when they broke apart.

"If our kid hates us, I'm blaming it on this moment," he mumbled before helping her to lie down on her back and moving over her the best he could. He found that from his position, he couldn't reach to kiss her due to her overgrowing belly, so he reared back and looked confused.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"This isn't gonna work this way," he told her, moving to the side of her.

"Then how are we gonna do it?" Luke hooked his fingers into waistband of her maternity sweats and pulled her panties down along with them. He tossed them to an unknown area, before pulling his boxers off and doing the same.

"Okay, lay on your side," he ordered, offering his arms to help support her. Once she was facing away from him, and she was lying comfortably, Luke positioned himself behind her and kissed her neck. "You okay?" he asked caringly, running his hand across her cheek.

"Yeah," she sighed. "Wish I could see you though."

"Just this once," he whispered in her ear before moving his hand over her stomach and down below. Lorelai moaned and begged him for more, and just as he was about to give in to her demands, he felt something that definitely wasn't a normal occurrence. Lorelai snapped out of her seduced state and her hand flew to her belly.

"Oh my god, was that..." She turned her head to look at her husband, watching as he withdrew his hand and eyed the liquid covering his fingers.

"You're leaking," he told her, but he smiled as he said it.

"My water broke," she murmured. "It worked!"

"I don't think that was the cause of it," he said, getting out of bed and quickly pulling his clothes back on. He hurried back over to their bed and helped his wife into a sitting position, before pulling her to her feet and wrapping his arms around her. "He's on his way," he told her, leaning forward to kiss her passionately. Lorelai moaned into his mouth, before pulling away and leaning her forehead against his.

"Think we have some time to finish what we started?" she asked breathlessly. "This might be our last chance for a while."

"Come on, we have more important things to deal with at the moment," he told her. "Plus, you shouldn't have sex after the waters have broken." Lorelai smiled at him.

"You've really been getting into those pregnancy books, haven't you?" she teased him as he gathered her discarded clothes up. She supported herself on his shoulders as he helped her redress, then he wrapped his arm around her waist and began walking them to their stairs. "Luke, we need my bag," she reminded him, looking back over her shoulder to locate it.

"Okay, okay," he said hurriedly. He left her by the door and rushed across the room to retrieve it, before making his way over to her again. "Right, are we ready to do this?"

"We'll never be ready, but it has to be done," she told him before they tackled the stairs and got in Lorelai's jeep so Luke could drive them to the hospital.

XXXX

As Lorelai was getting settled in a private room, Luke went to find a payphone so he could call Rory. She'd want to be here for this.

"Hello," she answered groggily, and Luke suddenly realised that it was at least eleven thirty at night.

"Hi Rory, it's Luke," he said hurriedly. Rory shot up in bed and switched the light on.

"Is it happening?" she asked, quickly becoming alert.

"It's happening," he confirmed, unable to stop the grin from spreading across his face. "Her water broke about forty five minutes ago."

"Wow, okay, I'll be there as soon as I can," she assured him, already climbing out of bed and pulling a random outfit from her closet.

"Don't worry, I think it's gonna take a while yet."

"Right, well tell her I'm on my way."

"I will, see you soon." They hung up and Rory began removing her PJs, waking Logan up in the process.

"What's going on?" he asked her, wondering why she was running around like a headless chicken.

"Mom's having the baby, I'm going to the hospital," she informed him. Logan sat up in bed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Do you want me to come with you? You'll probably need some company," he said logically.

"No, stay here with Leah, there's no point in waking her up." Rory finished dressing and picked up her car keys from the dresser. "Bring her by in the morning after breakfast; she might still be in labour then anyway."

"Okay, are you sure you'll be okay by yourself?"

"Mom and Luke will be there," she reminded him. "I'll be fine, I'm a big girl." Logan laughed and pulled her towards him from his position on the bed.

"Call me if it happens before we get there," he told her, before kissing her tenderly.

"Will do," she nodded.

"Love you."

"Love you too," she replied, and then she was gone. She made it to the hospital in record time, seeing as the roads were quiet. Most people were in bed by now. She pulled into the hospital parking lot and spotted her mom's jeep, choosing to park next to it. She rushed to the maternity ward and found Luke walking down the corridor holding an orange. "Luke!" she called, running to catch up with him.

"Rory," he replied. She threw her arms around him and he hugged her awkwardly, before they resumed their walk to Lorelai's room.

"How is she?" she asked eagerly.

"She's doing good so far," he nodded. "She wanted an orange so I went to get her one." Rory smiled and followed him into the room.

"Rory!" Lorelai exclaimed when she saw her daughter following her husband. Rory rushed over to her mom and threw her arms around her.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm good," she replied. "Hungry though."

"I got you that orange you asked for," said Luke, holding it out to her. She grinned at him and accepted it eagerly.

"Thanks babe." Luke smiled at her as she began to peel it.

"Anything for the birthday girl," he replied, leaving a kiss on her forehead. Lorelai grinned even wider as did Rory.

"It's my birthday," she squealed, clapping her hands together excitedly. A contraction decided to come on then, and she scrunched her face up slightly.

"You okay?" Luke asked quietly, moving his hand up to stroke her hair. Lorelai nodded and breathed through it, gripping his hand as she did.

"This brings back some memories," chuckled Rory, remembering her experience in this area.

"Tell me about it," Lorelai agreed. "I don't think the process really changes."

"Nope."

"Oh, speaking of Leah, where is she?"

"In bed," she answered. "I didn't see any point in waking her up if she's just gonna be sitting around in the waiting room, I told Logan to bring her in after breakfast instead."

"Okay, I can't wait to see her," she said.

"I'm gonna go get some coffee," announced Rory. "I'll leave you guys alone for a while." She left the room and wandered down the corridor aimlessly; she had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

XXXX

By nine o' clock that same morning, there was still no sign of Baby Danes. Rory had stayed up most of the night, and was now snoozing away in a chair in the corner of the room, while Luke sat by Lorelai's bedside, watching as she slept.

A midwife had been in a little while before for an examination, and had informed them that she was six centimetres dilated, meaning there were only another four to go.

Logan and Leah arrived at the hospital after breakfast, as promised, and after being led to the correct room, they were surprised to see only Luke awake.

"Grandpa," said Leah in a hushed voice, running over to her grandpa.

"Hey," he replied tiredly. He hadn't slept since two nights ago, and it was starting to catch up with him. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she replied, her eyes moving to her grandmother. "Is grandma okay?"

"Of course," he replied. "She's just tired."

"How much longer does she have to stay here?" she wondered.

"We don't know, however long it takes for the baby to come out," he shrugged. Leah studied Lorelai for a moment.

"Where does the baby come out of?" she quizzed. "Cause at the moment he's in grandma's tummy, but soon he's gonna be out here, so how does he get from there to here?" Luke was speechless, as was Logan, and the two men looked helplessly at each other.

"Luke," Lorelai murmured, thankfully diverting everyone's attention away from Leah's dreaded question.

"I'm here," he assured her, giving her hand a squeeze. She slowly opened her eyes and smiled up at him, before noticing Logan and Leah standing next to him.

"Hi," she greeted Logan, then looked to her granddaughter.

"Hey grandma," she exclaimed.

"Hi sweetheart, what are you doing here?"

"I wanna see my um..." she paused. "Daddy what did you say the baby was again?"

"Aunt or uncle," he told her slowly, and she nodded along.

"Yeah, that," she said.

"Well it might be a while yet, honey," she warned her. "It's pretty boring waiting around."

"I don't mind," she shrugged. She obviously didn't realise just how long they'd be waiting exactly. "I brought you a gift," she said, pulling something from her pocket. "Happy birthday." Lorelai smiled as she admired the colourful friendship bracelet.

"Aw, I love it, thank you Leah."

"I made it," she stated proudly. "It's a friendship bracelet. I have one two, so if we're both wearing them, we'll be friends forever." Luke tied the bracelet around his wife's wrist and watched her fiddle with her first gift of the day.

"I'll give you mine later," Luke told her, while Logan and Leah were distracted.

"You've already given me the best present I could wish for," she replied quietly, resting a hand on her protruding stomach. They shared a smile, as they continued to wait for their bundle of joy to arrive.

XXXX

The time was four sixteen in the afternoon, when Luke and Lorelai heard the first cries of their baby.

"It's a boy," the midwife announced as she held him up for the couple to see. Lorelai lifted her head from her pillow and let the tears fall freely at the mere sight of their beautiful son. She admitted that he looked a bit strange with the fluids all over him, but they took him off to be cleaned and weighed, leaving Luke and Lorelai to themselves for a few moments.

"A boy," murmured Lorelai, smiling up at Luke teary-eyed. He cupped her cheek in his palm and returned her smile.

"You did it," he told her. "I'm so proud of you." He leaned down to kiss her, pouring all the love he had into it.

"Here he is, Mr and Mrs Danes," she announced, carrying a blue bundle as she walked towards them. "He's a big one, weighed in at nine pounds, two ounces." Lorelai took hold of her son and held him close to her, admiring all the features sitting on his little face.

"He's beautiful," she whispered, scared that she'd disturb him if she spoke any louder.

"Gets it from his mom," Luke commented. She looked up at him and they shared another kiss.

"I love you," she told him when they pulled apart. Luke smiled down at her.

"Love you more," he argued, before taking his eyes to his newborn son. "And I love you too, little guy." He stroked his fingers along the baby's cheek and he turned his head towards his father's touch.

"He needs a name," Lorelai decided, looking down at her son again.

"We haven't really thought of any, have we?" Lorelai shrugged her shoulders.

"I've been giving it some thought," she informed him.

"And?"

"And I came up with a bunch of girl names, but the boy ones were a little harder to think up."

"Well, what were the ones you came up with?"

"I thought of Lucas, after his daddy," she laughed. "But I didn't know if you'd like that one or not. So then I thought of Richard, after my dad," she said the last part quieter than the rest, and Luke noticed her sadness.

"That was a nice thought," he assured her, resting his hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, he would have really loved to be here today," she sighed. "Mom would too." The elder Gilmores had really been there for Lorelai and Luke when Rory disappeared. They helped them come to terms with it, and they took care of Leah when the couple needed a break, they really loved their great granddaughter.

But when Leah was just seven months old, they had been involved in a fatal car accident, which killed Richard at the scene. Emily however, had gone into a coma and it seemed that there was hope on the horizon. But then she took a turn for the worse, and she never woke up. Lorelai was glad that they died knowing how much their only daughter cared for them, but she wished that fateful night had never happened in the first place.

"Richard William Danes," said Luke softly, caressing her hair. Lorelai smiled up at him weakly.

"William, after your dad?" she asked.

"Yeah, he would have loved to meet him too," he admitted. The new parents shared a quiet moment, before Lorelai acknowledged her husband again.

"Here Ricky, do you wanna go see your daddy?" she cooed to the baby, who was contentedly sleeping in his mother's arms.

"Ricky?" he questioned her.

"Short for Richard," she pointed out. Luke just shook his head.

"Are you sure you're done holding him?"

"Come on, I've been hogging him for the last nine months and ten days, the least I can do is let you have a cuddle." Luke beamed as he took his son into his arms for the first time, and Lorelai felt teary-eyed as she observed them.

"Hey little guy," he said quietly. "I'm your dad." Ricky squirmed to get comfortable in his new position, but quickly found a spot and snuggled into his father's strong chest.

"We should let Rory know he's here," said Lorelai, suddenly becoming aware of the outside world. They had been in a little cocoon ever since Richard had been born, but it was time to introduce him to the family now.

"I can go and get them," Luke offered, moving to hand the baby back to her. She refused though.

"Take him out there with you," she told him. "You only just took him off me." He nodded and leaned forward to kiss her, before turning around and leaving the room. He found them in the waiting room, and they all looked up when they saw him approaching.

"Luke!" Rory exclaimed, standing up and rushing over to him. Leah followed eagerly, wanting to see the newest member of the family.

"It's a boy," he announced proudly as he looked down at his son. He couldn't take his eyes off of him, he was so perfect.

"He's gorgeous," Rory gushed, smiling down at her baby brother. It seemed weird that she was twenty six, and she was just getting her first sibling now.

"Let me see," demanded Leah, trying to jump up to get a look. Rory lifted the girl up and sat her on her hip, letting her get a proper view of her uncle. "He's cute."

"Do you wanna go see your mom, she's waiting for us."

"Did everything go smoothly?" she inquired.

"Yeah, no problems whatsoever." They began to walk towards Lorelai's room, but Rory turned around to look back at Logan.

"Are you not coming?" she asked him.

"Nah, I'll stay here," he decided. "Give you all some time together."

"You can come, you know," she told him.

"I'm okay, really." Rory nodded hesitantly before turning around and following her stepfather, daughter and brother into her mother's room.

"You did it mom," she exclaimed when she saw her. She could see how tired Lorelai was, but she was so excited.

"Yeah, we made it," she agreed, smiling at her daughter and granddaughter.

"Can I hold him?" she asked eagerly. Luke nodded and Rory perched on the edge of the bed, as Luke lowered the baby into her arms. "He's heavy," she commented.

"Let me see him again," whined Leah, standing on her tippy-toes to get another view. Luke lifted her up and sat her on the bed next to her mom, while he went to sit next to his wife and wrap his arm around her.

"Have you decided on a name yet?" Rory asked.

"We have actually," Lorelai confirmed. "This is Richard William Danes, but we're gonna call him Ricky for short."

"Aw that's adorable," she sighed, thinking of her grandparents. She had heard from Logan's mother that her grandparents had passed on, but she didn't have the guts to go to their funeral; a decision she regretted very much. "Like Ricky Martin."

"Yeah," agreed Lorelai happily.

"I won't ask," said Luke, shaking his head.

"Hi Ricky," she cooed to her brother. She spoke baby talk to him for a while, before Leah decided it was her turn.

"Can I hold him now?" she asked. Rory looked to Luke and Lorelai for permission, and they both nodded.

"Remember to support his head," said Rory, placing the baby in her waiting arms. The three adults watched the previous baby of the family hold the new arrival, and it brought smiles to all their faces.

"Hello Uncle Ricky," she said to him, causing them all to laugh.

A year ago, Lorelai thought she would never see the day; her daughter interacting with her granddaughter, while they cooed over hers and Luke's son. Her granddaughter had her parents back, and she and Luke finally had a child of their own. Sitting in the hospital watching her family interact was the perfect moment for her, and she leaned into her husband as she enjoyed their new found happiness. Rory was a long lost mother no more; she was back where she belonged.

**So, I know there was hardly any Rory and Logan in this, but the whole point of it was that it showed how the Gilmore girls had come together and how much they had progressed since Rory's return. This was never meant to be a Rogan fic, the main idea was to show how the girls that were once so close, dealt with having to reconcile after Rory left on bad terms. **

**I really hope you've enjoyed reading this story, thank you for all the support I have received; reviews, favourites, alerts, even hits, it's really helped and I appreciate you all. **

**There are no plans for a sequel, because I feel the main goal of the story in the first place has been accomplished.**

**Thanks for reading, see you in future fics :D**

**Emily.**


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